The Jean Monnet Network

The EUsers Network aims at encouraging the diffusion of innovative teaching approaches, applied research and policy debate on services of general interest (SGI) in the European Union from a citizens’ perspective, by creating a network of six universities.

Since mid-1990s the role of SGI in the construction of Europe started to be publicly discussed.Today, SGI are recognised to be a key aspect in fostering European social and territorial cohesion and ensuring the enjoyment of fundamental rights to EU citizens.

The contribution of the EUsers to the EU policy debate on SGI is to analyse the users’ perspective. Throughout the EUsers’ activities, SGI will be examined through the lenses of citizens as users, and the public or private nature of their provision will be evaluated in terms of consumers’ welfare effects. The EUsers network’s activities will focus mainly on network SGI such as – for instance – energy, telecommunications, transport and environmental services.

Key questions addressed by the EUsers include:

• How should governments define the mission, performance criteria, and governance mechanisms of public enterprises providing SGI?
• How should they regulate the enterprise if provision is private or mixed?

The long-term objective of the EUser Network is indeed to become the reference point in the European Union on public services within high education, with the main role of collecting and capitalising the knowledge on SGI and specific related issues, of disseminating it to the general public through publications and public debates involving the academic word and policy-makers.