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EUROPE
Unity and diversity Compared to other world regions, Europe, with its small area and average population, has a relatively high density of inhabitants. European countries have a long history of free local government administration on the one hand and, on the other, of public serv ices. This report presents an overview of the provision of basic services in the European Union and in three other non-EU countries. Across Europe, local public authorities have responsibilities for basic public serv ice provision and management. Local basic services are the expression of an essential dimension of local autonomy. In Europe, the basic services under analysis are described as “public services” or “serv ices of general interest” (SGI). The specific history, traditions, culture and institutions in each country continue to mark the nature and evolution of these services across the continent. The definition of basic public services, as well as their level of geographical provision, the authorities responsible for them and the economic and management models (public, mixed, private or associa tive), vary across Europe. Amidst national diversity, there is a profound unity in Europe as regards basic public services. In each European state, these
services are subject, not only to common competition law and market rules, but to specific laws regarding their organization and regulation. These common rules have the following aims: guaranteeing the right of each inhabitant to reach essential goods or services; building European solidarity; ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion; taking into account long-term considerations; and creating the conditions for economic, social, environmental and sustainable development. These objec tives of general interest are at the heart of the system of values which characterizes all European countries. There are three major trends at work in shaping basic public services in Europe: National histories, traditions and institutions, which continue to mark modes of organization and regulation. Sectoral logic, i.e. telecommunications, electricity, water, and transport cannot be organized in the same way or be subject to the same rules. The process of “Europeanization” of basic public services over the past 25 years. This does not mean that all serv ices are regulated or organized centrally (due to the principle of subsidiarity). Europeanization works in parallel to national traditions and the specificities of each sector.