“Remunicipalization” of local services and competition law

Abstract

This article offers some insights into the process of “remunicipalization” of public local services from the perspective of completion law in the context of the powers assigned to local entities (ex art. 97.2 Royal Decree Law 781/1986, of 18 April, as amended by Law 27/2013, of 27 December, on Rationalization and Sustainability of local administrations) but also, in general terms, the article points out the implications of public administrations decisions on competition law in relation to: (i) the framework of public services (monopoly vs. free concurrence); (ii) the forms to manage public services (direct management vs. indirect management); and (iii) the exercise of the own economic initiative of local entities. In particular, this article emphasizes that all these decision‑making processes should take into account the analysis from the point of view of competition law in order to avoid unjustified burdens in this matter which can lead to inefficiencies and low quality services.

Keywords:

competition law, local entities, direct management, economic initiative, competition neutrality, essential public services reserved, public services, remunicipalization