SERVICIOS ECONOMICOS DE INTERES GENERAL Y CIUDADANÍA: GARANTÍAS DE LOS CIUDADANOS COMO USUARIOS DE SERVICIOS ESENCIALES.

Maria Jesús García García

Resumen:

Los SEIG responden a necesidades básicas y esenciales de la colectividad, por lo cual el suministro y el acceso a estos servicios tiene que quedar garantizado a los ciudadanos. En este marco la prestación de servicios funciona siguiendo el criterio de la rentabilidad económica y comercial y pone fin a los monopolios estatales, dando lugar a la figura de los consumidores y usuarios de servicios, dotados de derechos e instrumentos de protección específicos. Con todo, se trata de actividades que continúan siendo de interés general, con lo que su prestación tiene que quedar garantizada a los ciudadanos en términos de calidad, regularidad, universalidad y precio asequible. En este contexto, la Unión Europea ha pretendido compatibilizar la liberalización económica de estas actividades, con el interés público subyacente y los intereses y derechos de los usuarios de estos servicios esenciales.

Abstract:

The term Economic Services of General Interest includes sectors such as telecommunications, banking, postal services, water supplies, gas, electricity, transport and any other economic activity that is declared of general interest by the states. These activities respond to basic and essential needs of the community, so the supply and access to these services must be guaranteed to citizens. According to our domestic law, access to these benefits was guaranteed through the public service formula, so that the responsibility for their provision was entrusted to the Administration. However, European Union legislation imposes the liberalization of some of these activities, so that they are open to the free market and competition. In this framework, the provision of services operates according to the criterion of economic and commercial profitability and puts an end to state monopolies, giving rise to the figure of consumers and users of services, endowed with specific rights and instruments of protection. However, these are activities that continue to be of general interest, so their provision must be guaranteed to citizens in terms of quality, regularity, universality and affordable price. In this context, the European Union has sought to reconcile the economic liberalization of these activities, with the underlying public interest and the interests and rights of the users of these essential services. To this end, Community standards have developed techniques and instruments aimed at meeting these requirements and guaranteeing citizens access to basic services and users the protection of their rights and legitimate interests, issues that are the subject of analysis in this article. In the legal protection of consumers, both in national systems and in Community law, it is not enough to recognize rights in favor of consumers, but it is essential to establish appropriate channels so that they can assert the recognized rights in case they are violated. The qualified character that is recognized to the users of basic services is also appreciated in the articulated system of complaints and conflict resolution. As these are essential services, it is necessary that disputes and controversies are resolved with a certain speed, without the need to resort to the slow, expensive and unpredictable judicial route. That is why the rules provide for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in these areas and the possibility of contacting the Administration to claim those rights that are considered to have been injured by the service provider. As these are basic and essential services that must be provided regularly, the resolution of conflicts must be articulated through quick and simple procedures, which avoid, as far as possible, the judicialization of disputes. And this for several reasons. Firstly, because recourse to the courts of justice would greatly delay the resolution of the dispute and would lead to the saturation of the judicial bodies, and secondly because of the scarce economic entity that in most cases these disputes present, which makes the judicial system inadequate in most cases.