surgery under general anaesthesia and appropriate analgesia, associated with post surgical pain, suffering or impairment of general condition.

The Commission supports such initiatives whenever possible, notably as concerns twinning of hospitals to assist the Governments to restore the essential services in general clinics, hospitals, laboratories and minor surgery units.

Summary code: Competition / Rules applicable to state aid / Services of general economic interest Consumers / Consumers – general rules / Services of general interest Employment and social policy / Social protection / Modernising social protection / Services of general interest Internal market / Single market for services / Financial services: banking / Services of general interest Regional policy / Management of regional policy / Thematic approach / Services of general interest

It deals with globalisation and liberalisation, raising the question of whether a general legislative framework should be established at Community level for services of general interest, and seeks to deal with these issues by asking questions about: the impact of any additional Community initiatives to implement the treaty, in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity; the principles likely to be incorporated in any framework legislation on services of general interest and the actual added value of legislation of that kind; the definition of good governance in the organisation, regulation, funding and evaluation of services of gene ...[+++]ral interest; an examination of any new measure likely to be taken to increase legal certainty and facilitate consistent, harmonious coordination between the objective of safeguarding high-quality services of general interest and the rigorous application of the competition and internal market rules.

It deals with globalisation and liberalisation, raising the question of whether a general legislative framework should be established at Community level for services of general interest, and seeks to deal with these issues by asking questions about: the impact of any additional Community initiatives to implement the treaty, in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity; the principles likely to be incorporated in any framework legislation on services of general interest and the actual added value of legislation of that kind; the definition of good governance in the organisation, regulation, funding and evaluation of services of gene ...[+++]ral interest; an examination of any new measure likely to be taken to increase legal certainty and facilitate consistent, harmonious coordination between the objective of safeguarding high-quality services of general interest and the rigorous application of the competition and internal market rules.

The first part outlines the background, the second part discusses the scope of Community action in the area of services of general interest, the third part provides a number of elements for a possible common concept of services of general economic interest, on the basis of existing sector-specific legislation, the fourth part looks at issues related to the way services of general interest are organised, financed and evaluated, and the fifth part addresses the international dimension of services of general interest.