This book examines the impact of EU trade and investment agreements on public services, a topic that continues to be the subject of heated political debate. It surveys a broad range of EU agreements and provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the rules and disciplines of such agreements that can affect the provision of public services. Going beyond the existing literature, it asks whether the treatment of public services in EU trade and investment agreements is coherent with the special status of public services in "internal" EU law, specifically internal market law, while also challenging the notion that trade and investment agreements automatically pose serious threats to public services. The book will be of keen interest to legal scholars and students specialising in EU and/or international economic law together with national and international policy-makers. Luigi F. Pedreschi is affiliated to the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and currently works as a Research Associate at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, also located in Florence.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. An Introduction to Public Services and EU Law.- Chapter 2. Reframing the Debate: Public Services and International Economic Law.- Chapter 3. EU Trade and Investment Policy: The Role of Public Services.- Chapter 4. Scope: Determining the Breadth of the Internal and External Frameworks.- Chapter 5. Disciplines of the Internal and External Frameworks: Form, Application, and Effect.- Chapter 6. Safeguarding Public Services: Exceptions and Derogations of the Internal and External Frameworks.- Chapter 7. Enforcement of EU Trade and Investment Agreements.- Chapter 8. Conclusions.- Appendix.- Cases and Decisions.- Index.