Die Betrauung

The entrustment of services of general economic interests serves to ensure the basic needs of the population. The absence of a proper entrustment may sometimes result in the recovery of already granted aid. However, the term of the “entrustment” has not been clarified uniformly. This situation is aggravated by the fact that the term is used in a different way in other provisions. This contributed to a certain confusion of terms (“Begriffsverwirrung”) and practical difficulties. Based on the location of the entrustment in Art. 106(2) TFEU, the dissertation explores the origin of that term, its interpretation and application by the European institutions as well as its use by national law and establishes certain entrustment requirements to contribute to resolving the “apparent” issue.