Public service

Interest - in Switzerland public services ( public service ) and public infrastructure - is in Germany a legal administrative term that plays an important role in the political and social science discussion. He describes the task of the state to provide the existence of a human deemed necessary goods and services - the so-called primary care. This includes, as part of performance management, the provision of public facilities for the public, as traffic and transport services, gas, water and electricity supply, garbage disposal, sanitation, educational and cultural institutions, hospitals, cemeteries, baths etc ( infrastructure). This is largely to activities that are today perceived by local economic enterprises.

Origin of the term

The term was introduced by Ernst Forsthoff following Karl Jaspers in the constitutional and administrative discussion. The original administrative law doctrine only knew the engagement management. Forsthoff extended these dogmatic in his 1938 published in Konigsberg Font The management as service providers around the concept of performance management, with the ratio of the individual should be determined for performance granted to the state. He saw the need that must be entitled to the individual participation rights to services of general interest. The information to be in compliance with the social responsibility performance guarantees actuation of the state he called interest. Forsthoff defined the concept of interest in their own words as " those events that have been taken to satisfy the Appropriationsbedürfnisses ".

From Forsthoff the need of general interest was based on the administration as a service provider as follows in 1938 in his book:

" By combining Brin Gung great mass of the population into the tightest spaces in the cities, as they brought the industrial emancipation in the 19th and 20th centuries with it, did not result in the individual existence new conditions and management requirement. They can clarify in the way that you dominated the different and the effective habitat of the individual. [ ... ] The triggered by industrialization spatial Verschichtung the population has meant that dominated habitat of the individual more and more reduced (of the house, yard and workshop for the apartment and the workstation at the factory ), while the technology to the effective habitat expanded greatly. With the dominated habitat individuals lost the backups that gave his life a certain independence. Now he had to rely on measures that come his social need to help and make the existence of leadership without dominated habitat only possible: gas, water, electric power, sewerage, transport, etc. The social need and is therefore independent from the assets. [ ...] This need to come to the aid of a government task has become, where state should be understood in the broader, even the municipalities broad sense. What happens in fulfillment of this task is basic public goods. "

Interest as a legal concept

The commonly used term in public administration practice of general interest is legally an indeterminate legal concept. It is often used in laws, without there its content is defined in more detail. The Treaty establishing the European Community is spoken in reference to the French concept of " services publics " in Article 86, paragraph 2 of the Treaty of "services of general economic interest ". These are defined as "market- related activities, which are performed in the public interest and therefore connected by the Member States subject to specific public service obligations. " Among them are mainly the areas of public understood. However, the terms are not content completely congruent. The EU Commission has adopted the indeterminate legal concept in their vocabulary and defines it as " market and non- market services that are provided in the public interest and therefore by the public authorities with specific public service obligations ." The general interest was anchored by contract at European level with the Treaty of Lisbon in the regulated in Article 14 TFEU " services of general economic interest".

Legal basis of general interest is in Germany the guarantee of local self-government according to article 28, paragraph 2 of the Basic Law. The GG avoids the term interest, but describes him as " all matters of the local community." This is understood the Constitutional Court those " needs and interests that are rooted in the local community or a specific reference on them ." What ultimately becomes the content of general interest, each municipality has to decide in the context of self-government for themselves. While a community fair site, like many other municipalities, however, are no fair location. In one municipality, the trade fair and exhibition industry is a thing of general interest, with the other not. Interest is by no means federally regulated. In § 2 para 2 bedrooms 1 Spatial Planning Act is determined that balanced social, infrastructural, economic, ecological and cultural conditions are desirable in Germany. Here is " to secure sustainable subsistence."

Under general interest refers to administrative law all services of the municipality, the provision of which consists of a general public interest. For the Constitutional Court, the general interest is an accomplishment "of those inevitable citizens need to ensure a decent existence. " In the German view, the design of general interest may be economic or non- economic, competitive or monopoly, be profitable, break even or eligible needy. They range from the energy and water supply over sanitation and waste management, police, fire, hospitals, cemeteries, public housing and public transport to cultural, sporting and social offerings. Despite the change, the municipal public services remains one of the de facto core area of ​​self-government.

Interest as a concept in administrative law

Legally unclear and highly controversial is the legal relevance of the concept of general interest. In the administrative law science, there is hardly a term that has triggered a greater fascination, but then also excites more annoyance than the notion of general interest. In the administrative discussion it is often used on the one hand and used as a reasoning support. On the other hand, it is pointed out that he is a sociological concept with primarily "problem illustrative Direction, less problem-solving function" is more. Even Forsthoff had to send a reminder in 1959 that the concept of a " Allerweltsbegriff " was, " with which one can do everything, and therefore do not prove anything. " In his book, "The state of industrial society " admitted Forsthoff one, if it were a term of political science " as they were understood in the 18th century "(p. 77).

Some municipal regulations of the countries use the term general interest: In Baden- Württemberg ( § 102 Section 1 No. 3 GemO ), Bavaria ( Article 87 paragraph 1 No. 4 BayGO ) and Thuringia ( § 71 Section 1 No. 4 KO ) applies the local economic subsidiarity clause only " outside the municipal services ". However, this will interest considered problematic because of the legal regulation of the concept of unsharpness.

Public services and utilities today

During a debate on privatization, the term is understood partially polarizing. Who rather statist thinking sees the state primarily as a " regulatory state " tends to give the term a special and important role. Liberal politicians hold the end of general interest to come. In any case, it is observed that many formerly perceived by the state or municipal monopolies operations of general interest today have to compete with private providers and that the traditional services of general interest are today perceived by individuals. Even in the wake of the progressive Europeanisation of business law, which provides for increasing the public tender of existing municipal functions, see even the local authorities and representatives of the local economy shrink the task of the local economy. State general interest, however, can also be privately organized. In great analogy to the " strong state " in the classification system of the social market economy, the regulatory state is limited in this case, the setting of conditions, this contract objectives, and leaves the implementation of private initiative.

In contrast, but it has ( for example, water supply in Berlin, energy networks in Hamburg, etc ) where also from about the 2000s, a partially supported by public petition opposing tendency of Rekommunalisierungen.