[[topics:wellbeing]]; 

[[merge_into_other_topics:energy_-_service_of_public_interest]];

[[potential_topics:security_supply]]

[[topics:resilience]];

[[topics:targets]]

[[topics:human_rights]]

====== Universal Service / Essential Services / Public Service ======

===== Energy as Basic human needs (UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948) =====
"Basic human needs are universal across cultures and places. How they are met varies widely, but there are certain generic need satisfiers that are constant: these are life’s essentials. They include (not an exhaustive
list) clean air and water, nutrition, care, education, housing, energy, security, and access to motorised transport and – these days – to the Internet. They are reflected in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which includes, among much else and notably in Articles 22-26, all the essentials covered by UBS – except access to motorised transport and digital communications, which were only deemed essential many decades after the Declaration was published (UN, 1948)." 
[Source: Coote, A., 2023. Universal Basic Services: Provisioning for Our Needs Within a Fair Consumption Space. Hot or Cool Institute, Think Piece series. https://hotorcool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Universal-Basic-Services-Provisioning-for-our-needs-within-a-fair-consumption-space.pdf]

===== Electricity as Universal Service (US, EU) [Wikipedia] =====
"Universal service is an economic, legal and business term used mostly in regulated industries, referring to the practice of providing a baseline level of services to every resident of a country. An example of this concept is found in the US Telecommunications Act of 1996, whose goals are:

to promote the availability of quality services at just, reasonable, and affordable rates
to increase access to advanced telecommunications services throughout the Nation
to advance the availability of such services to all consumers, including those in low income, rural, insular, and high cost areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in urban areas
Universal service was widely adopted in legislation in Europe beginning in the 1980s and 1990s.[1] For instance, under the EU Postal Services Directive (97/67/EC), the Electricity Market Directive (2003/54/EC) and the Telecommunications Directive (2002/22/EC)." 

[Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_service]


===== Universal Service (EU) [DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019/944, Article 27] =====
"Member States shall ensure that all household customers, and, where Member States deem it to be appropriate, small enterprises, enjoy universal service, namely the right to be supplied with electricity of a specified quality within their territory at competitive, easily and clearly comparable, transparent and non-discriminatory prices. To **ensure the provision of universal service**, Member States may appoint a supplier of last resort. Member States shall impose on distribution system operators an obligation to connect customers to their network under terms, conditions and tariffs set in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 59(7). ..."

[Source: Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (recast) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0944]

===== Essential Services in European Pillar of Social Rights (EU, UK and other non-EU countries) =====
Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) states that “**everyone** has the right to **access essential services** of good quality, including water, sanitation, **energy**, transport, financial services and digital communications. Support for access to such services shall be available for those in need.”

[Source: European Commission. Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. and European Social Policy Network (ESPN). Access to Essential Services for People on Low Incomes in Europe: An Analysis of Policies in 35 Countries : 2020. LU: Publications Office, 2020. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2767/93987.]

===== Services of General Interest in Europe - Basic concepts [COM(2011) 900 final]=====

See also reference to [EC COM(2000) 580 final] in [[merge_into_other_topics:energy_-_service_of_public_interest]]

The debate on services of general interest suffers from a lack of clarity on terminology. The concepts are used interchangeably and inaccurately. Stakeholders have asked the Commission to provide clarity. In doing so, however, the Commission is bound by EU primary law and the Court's case-law. Moreover, the concepts are dynamic and evolve. 

**Service of general interest (SGI):** SGI are services that public authorities of the Member States classify as being of general interest and, therefore, subject to specific public service obligations (PSO). The term covers both economic activities (see the definition of SGEI below) and non-economic services. The latter are not subject to specific EU legislation and are not covered by the internal market and competition rules of the Treaty. Some aspects of how these services are organised may be subject to other general Treaty rules, such as the principle of non-discrimination. 

**Service of general economic interest (SGEI):** SGEI are economic activities which deliver outcomes in the overall public good that would not be supplied (or would be supplied under different conditions in terms of quality, safety, affordability, equal treatment or universal access) by the market without public intervention. The PSO is imposed on the provider by way of an entrustment and on the basis of a general interest criterion which ensures that the service is provided under conditions allowing it to fulfil its mission.

**Social services of general interest (SSGI):** these include social security schemes covering the main risks of life and a range of other essential services provided directly to the person that play a preventive and socially cohesive/inclusive role6. While some social services (such as statutory social security schemes) are not considered by the European Court as being economic activities, the jurisprudence of the Court makes clear that the social nature of a service is not sufficient in itself to classify it as non-economic. The term social service of general interest consequently covers both economic and non-economic activities.

**Universal service obligation (USO):** USO are a type of PSO which sets the requirements designed to ensure that certain services are made available to all consumers and users in a Member State, regardless of their geographical location, at a specified quality and, taking account of specific national circumstances, at an affordable price. The definition of specific USO are set at European level as an essential component of market liberalization of service sectors, such as electronic communications, post and transport. 

**Public service:** Public service is used in article 93 TFEU in the field of transport. However, outside this area, the term is sometimes used in an ambiguous way: it can relate to the fact that a service is offered to the general public and/or in the public interest, or it can be used for the activity of entities in public ownership. To avoid ambiguity, this Communication does not use the term but follows the terminology "service of general interest" and "service of general economic interest".

[Source: European Commission. ‘A Quality Framework for Services of General Interest in Europe’. COM(2011) 900 final. European Commission, 10 December 2011.]

~~DISCUSSION|Discussion Section - PAGE OWNER: Klaus Kubeczko~~