Services of general economic interest and state measures affecting competition

The last year has been a typical year in this survey of Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and state measures affecting competition where the report is a series of ad hoc measures relating to SGEI. Two new soft communications have been published to complement the Almunia Package of measures to regulate compensation for SGEI: a European Commission instrument to determine swap rates and a Commission Staff Working Paper. There are a few European Commission Decisions, particularly in the postal sector, involving financing SGEI that fall outside of the new Almunia Package, but are assessed according to the new methodological approach. The General Court (GC) has asked the European Commission to take greater care to analyse the funding of ancillary services to health care schemes; a rebuke that is also seen in applying Article 106 TFEU in the Greek Lignite case. Of a wider significance for European Union (EU) economic law, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the European Commission have provided analysis of the definition of ‘economic activity’ which triggers the application of EU law generally. Two cases have considered the application of Article 106 TFEU, with the GC providing greater analysis of when, and how, Article 106 and 102 TFEU may be used together.