Public service à la française : cause for concern ?

• Marcel BOITEUX
  President of honour, EDF (French Electricity Board), Member, Institut de France
  
• Claude HENRY
  Research directeur, CNRS
  Professor, École polytechnique
  

Summary

Marcel Boiteux defines a public service à la française as a public company which enjoys a regulatory monopoly in the trade sector and carries out a public service. Does competition harm such a company by interfering in its designated role or does it, on the contrary, allow the company to fulfil its role more efficiently and at fairer costs ? This question has been debated in the bases of moral principles and passions for a long time. However, according to Claude Henry, today the variety of experience gained from the European Union and its member states allows one to put this question into perspective. Competition is not uniform, it may be either beneficial or harmful depending on whether or not it stimulates innovation. Public services differ greatly from one to another and from country to country.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Thomas PARIS.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference IN081297).