Brussels, 29/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 20 December, the European Commission published a report showing that reforms of services of general economic interest (SGEI), such as telecommunications, air transport and postal services, have produced clear benefits for European consumers in terms of lower prices, choice and better services.
The report was drafted by the departments of Commissioner Almunia (Monetary Affairs), Commissioner McCreevy (Internal Market) and Commissioner Kyprianou (Health and Consumer Protection). It looks at the so-called network industries, electricity, gas, telecommunications, postal services, air, road and rail transport sectors in the 25 Member States of the EU. Together, these sectors represent around 6-8% of the value added and 5% of EU employment. This is the second time the Commission assesses progress to improve the performance of network industries in the EU. The first one was published in 2002. This year's report also compares market performance between 'old' and 'new' Member States.
The main conclusions are: 1) opening markets to competition is responsible for a large part of the improvements in performance: i.e. leading to lower prices and higher productivity. In addition, countries with high levels of market opening tend to perform better over time in terms of prices and productivity; 2_ the benefits of market opening spill-over into the rest of economy and have a positive impact on employment. An economic simulation has shown that between 1990 and 2001 the creation of half a million jobs throughout the EU was linked to regulatory changes in network industries; 3) prices for SGEI are similar in new and old Member States, but these prices are less affordable in many new Member States due to lower per-capita incomes; 4) there are still many obstacles to competition and the completion of the Internal Market. The Commission says it is taking steps to address these obstacles and Member States have an important role to play as many decisions regarding the regulatory framework and infrastructure investment remain with them; 5) Consumers are very satisfied but improvements are still needed. Satisfaction levels in new Member States are similar to those in the original EU15, ranging from 77% for postal to 66% for rail services. Most EU citizens are highly satisfied with the provision of these services, but many are dissatisfied with high prices and low quality.
Broad debate on the future of services of general interest was launched with the publication of the European Commission's White Paper in May 2004. No decision has yet been taken about whether a specific directive will be required, hence the importance of the debate surrounding the scope of the draft services directive.
The full text of the report is available at: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/ en/update/economicreform/index.htm