The GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament published on Monday 21 January a groundbreaking report on the effects of the liberalisation of public services in the European Union.
The study, conducted by academics at the request of two French GUE/NGL members, Marie-Pierre Vieu and Marie-Christine Vergiat, focused on three sectors - rail transport, electricity and postal services - and four Member States - France, Germany, Spain and Slovakia.
First of all, it shows that, far from leading to pure and perfect competition, the liberalisation of public services tends to lead to an oligopolisation of markets, with 3 or 4 dominant operators. In the Spanish electricity market, three of them reportedly share 70% of the total energy supplied.
However, this oligopolisation has reportedly then lead to a number of negative effects, such as a tendency to make jobs more precarious, or social and territorial segmentation of markets that can lead, respectively, to an increase in tariffs for users and a neglect of rural areas.
On the basis of this study, the United Left is in favour of a moratorium on the directives on the liberalisation of public services.
To view the study: https://bit.ly/2sL4LCd. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot - intern)