Article 106(2) TFEU is an enigma. It provides for the disapplication of any Treaty rule with respect to Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs).
On the one hand, it is said to be an indispensable mediation mechanism between market and non-market objectives. On the other, in respect of the qualification of activities as SGEIs, the General Court has declared that there are no controlling principles. The operation of Article 106(2) has been a source of enduring political, legal and economic controversy.
This book enters that debate with an active scepticism towards conventional understandings of the provision, and deploys a novel criticality and a law and economics approach to expose the inner workings of Article 106(2). It also offers a prescription for a more practical rendering of this intriguing provision.