Part two of the webinar series in addition to the Silomag#18 online magazine, co-organised by the Gabriel Péri Foundation and transform! europe.
Referred to as ‘modernisation’, the neoliberal transformation of public services through privatisation and opening up to competition has led to the total reorganisation of sectors – such as energy and public transport – which, because of their central role in meeting needs, had for many decades escaped the logics of profitability. Many promises were made. Liberalisation was supposed to lower prices and improve service quality, as well as management efficiency and transparency. It was supposed to better satisfy the needs of users, now consumers/customers, and free up the necessary financial resources without burdening public budgets.
After three decades of reforms driven by the European Union, what assessment can be made of this liberalisation policy? What impact has it had on public services’ mission of social and territorial equality, and of meeting the fundamental needs of all human beings? Have changes in modes of governance increased the efficiency and transparency of management and control mechanisms? Where are we with the long-term investments needed to maintain and develop infrastructures, at a time when the climate challenge and ecological imperatives are making energy production and modes of transport decisive issues? How much public money has been invested in liberalised sectors, and for what purpose? What are the consequences for working conditions?
What other reforms are conceivable to enable public services to respond to aspirations, growing needs and the urgency of a just ecological transition? Does the commons approach make it possible to design and build innovative, democratic public services to meet the social needs and environmental challenges of the 21st century?
To provide some answers, we invite you to follow the two videoconference meetings organised by the Gabriel Péri Foundation in cooperation with transform! europe. Dedicated to these issues in two sectors in particular, energy and transport, they accompany the publication of the new Silomag#18 devoted to the future of public services in Europe.
For each session, the speakers are invited to recall the evolution of European law in these sectors, to present the ecological challenges and explain how public services of energy and transport can be developed on a European scale, in the direction of human progress and ecological imperatives.
More details in French on the website of Gabriel Péri Foundation.
Programme
Thursday 23rd May from 2:30 to 4:30pm
Does the neoliberal transformation of the public transport meet social needs and the climate challenge?
Speakers:
- Juan Montero (PhD Law, EUI), Professor of Administrative Law and Economic Regulation in the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid
- Tim Engartner, Professor of Social Sciences with a focus on economic education, Kôln University
- Thomas Perroud, Professor of public law, author of Service public et communs
- Jorinde Schultz, spokesperson for the association The commons in the hands of citizens (Germany)
Moderation:
- Cornelia Hildebrandt, co-president of transform! europe
- Louise Gaxie, director of the Gabriel Péri Foundation
Click here to register!
Cover Photo: Yarygin via Depositphotos