WT23 – The conception and management of public services

In partnership with :

AITEC (Association Internationale de Techniciens, Experts et Chercheurs) : aitec.reseau-ipam.org (english version)

Workshop presentation

In all societies, it has been considered that some services cannot be provided only by the market. This is because either the latter was powerless to do so, as for example in producing big infrastructures; because it was desirable to provide a service to the entire population whatever the social class and income, such as basic education and health care; or because the public good could not be divided or appropriated, such as the air or the sea.

At all times, a balance, variable according to the societies, became established between public action; the market sphere; and family, religious, ethnic or other solidarity.

The development of public services is also at the heart of economic development. It even occupies a growing role as knowledge and know-how count more in manufacturing systems than unskilled labour or machines.

However, simultaneously, the movement of the globalisation of the economy and the trust put in the effectiveness of the market economy have led to a questioning of the capacity of national or local public institutions to effectively manage, in the overall interest of the community, services traditionally managed by these institutions. These services range from water to transportation, health care and education. A huge privatisation movement was started up, along with its particular excesses. In the areas of energy, water, telecommunications, and even defence and security, new balances are being sought between management effectiveness, social justice and long-term strategy. The globalisation of the world economy puts not only businesses into competition; it also puts social systems and public service systems in to competition. There is no choice but to accept that countries such as those of Northern Europe, where public services are very developed, are far from leaving a poor impression in this field.

In Europe itself, a contradiction has appeared between the strong attachment that many countries have in the quality and importance of public services, and the rules of free competition in force for the European Union single market. While the public monopolies in the field of energy and transportation, for example, have turned out to be incompatible with the principle of equality of conditions of competition between European companies, was it really necessary for all that to abandon all public service to free market play?

An original philosophy is developing around the concept of « service of general interest » (SGI).

The objective of the workshop will be to directly compare the Chinese and European experiences and reflections on the future of public service in a globalised system, based on the experiences carried out on a whole range of public services.