In the face of continuing financial and economic crises in Europe, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been criticized for being overly-conservative in its loans to Europe. Critics in particular have called on the EIB to vastly increase its investment in utilities as a counter-cyclical...

Augmenting consumer welfare was a key justification behind the reform of utilities from the 1980s. But three decades later, evidence is mounting that consumer satisfaction with household utilities is quite uneven. Moreover; governments, regulators, and international organizations are...

This chapter asks whether the European Union Member States are ready for inward Foreign Direct Investment from the Emerging Markets. It concludes that European Union Member States have relatively open Foreign Direct Investment regimes in the international context, and yet instances of...

One consequence of the liberalization of certain services in the European Union was that a number of formerly inward-looking incumbents in telecommunications and electricity rapidly transformed themselves into some of the world's leading Multinationals. However, the precise relationship between...

This article analyses the development of the European Union (EU) project of a Charter for Services of General Interest (SGI) from the mid-1990s to the publication of the White Paper on Services of General Interest and the draft European Constitution in 2004. Though service charters are often...

Consumer satisfaction with utility services has received increased attention from firms, consumer associations, regulators and governments since the 1990s. Evidence is mounting that consumers in specific socio-economic groups express lower satisfaction levels than their peers, at least, in some...

This paper analyzes from a regional perspective the use of Servicesof General Economic Interest (SGEI), to which general access in equal conditionsis considered key for social and territorial cohesion by European regulationpolicymakers.In order to do so, citizens’ revealed preferences with...

The European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on the award of concession contracts has sparked vigorous public debate and intense opposition. This Directive is controversial because of the nature of the policy it proposes and because the sectors involved are highly sensitive. This Forum...

Augmenting consumer welfare was a key justification behind the reform of utilities from the 1980s. But, three decades later, evidence is mounting that consumer satisfaction with household utilities is quite uneven. Moreover, governments, regulators and international organizations are...

This chapter asks whether the European Union Member States are ready for inward Foreign Direct Investment from the Emerging Markets. It concludes that European Union Member States have relatively open Foreign Direct Investment regimes in the international context, and yet instances of...