This monograph, which was also designed as a short reference book for special ized undergraduate and graduate courses on EU law, intends to shed light on,
and legally frame, the evolution of the doctrine of services of general economic
interest (SGEIs).
The book emphasizes the pivotal role played by SGEIs in striking
a fair balance between market and social objectives. To this end, the book claims,
first of all, that SGEIs have a dual nature inasmuch as they act as a limitation
to/derogation from the free market and, simultaneously, as a value and positive
obligation addressed at national authorities, undertakings, and EU institutions.

The EU notions of access to public services and universal service are the clearest
signal of such phenomenon. Secondly, the book claims that the transfer of compe tences from the Union to the Member States and the reaffirmation of Member
States’ sovereignty in crucial sectors of the economy are not the only solutions
to foster social rights. In fact, this narrative is apt to undermine the foundations,
spirit, and purpose of the process of European integration, especially at a time
like the present, when new forms of populism and anti-Europeanism are on the
rise, and when a European response is imperative to counter the spread of the
coronavirus in European countries.

The book concludes that SGEIs’ regulation
is an area of law where the EU institutions have generally successfully put into
action and consolidated the social market economy principles on which the EU
was founded. This is even further proof that the EU is not merely the reflection
of interests linked to market completion, but also and foremost a ‘Community
based on the rule of law’