The Role of State-owned Enterprises in the European Union

We can witness the appearance of state involvement to different extents and with different goals in each of the economic services of general interest. This new type of intervention is aimed at controlling and limiting traditional market competition. Of course, this can not only be traced back to the decision-making powers of the Member States, but it is also the result of the organization and function of EU institutions and their decision-making mechanisms. At the same time, the winners of this are the individual Member States, which creates a basis for the strengthening of national sovereignty in the integration. Member States’ room for manoeuvre has clearly increased in the field of public services, at least in the scope of exceptions to the general competition rules. One of the unique forms of realization of this situation is the increase in the state ownership share and its regulation. A particularly important question from a public financial point of view is how state subsidies received for the provision of public services affect the cross-financing of profitable services. At the same time, this can clearly illustrate the differences arising from market characteristics and the success of liberalization in certain areas. The question of how the role of state-owned enterprises can be determined within the framework of the market economy emerges prominently in the examined EU policies. At the same time, in recent decades, the spectrum of services where state-owned companies appear has been expanding, which sheds new light on their purpose within the framework of a competitive economy. From the point of view of European integration and internal market competition regulation, it is particularly justified to reevaluate this issue and explore the motivations inherent in the regulation.