Public services providers address Vice President Almunia

Opening the XVIIIth CEEP Congress hosted by the Spanish section of CEEP in Madrid, Carl Cederschiöld, President of CEEP, addressed the Commission Vice President, Mr Almunia on the role of Public Services providers as the very fabric of European Society.

Public services providers contribute directly to more than 26% of the EU 27 GDP. More than 500 000 enterprises ‐ private, public, mixed‐owned enterprises ‐ provide those services in Europe. All together they employ more than 64 million people in Europe providing services to about 500 million Europeans. Those are the findings of the “Mapping of the public services”, officially presented by CEEP in the Congress.

The President of CEEP referred in particular to the need of strengthening the so called

Monti‐Kroes package. “There is a need to increase the flexibility of the rules applicable to financial compensation for SGI providers”, said Mr Cederschiöld. He then referred to the need of further modernisation of public procurement rules and further clarification of the “in house” concept.

Vice President Almunia responded by acknowledging the key role of Services of General Interest in guaranteeing social and territorial cohesion in Europe. He also highlighted the stabilising role they play during the crisis. He then stated that the priority of the European Commission is to ensure that any regulation on Services of General Interest is anchored in the concept of quality and accessibility, accompanied with the efficient allocation of public resources. The latter is indeed a prerequisite to contribute to the overall competitiveness of the EU.

Finally, the Vice President reaffirmed that the strategy is in itself built around targets that

need effective SGIs to be achieved and, consequently, the central role of public services will be duly taken into account in the implementation process.

For further information, please contact:

Valeria RONZITTI, Director of CEEP ‐ tel. +32 (0) 2 219 27 98