Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo

Sommario

1. Introduzione. – 2. Cenni storici sull’evoluzione dei servizi pubblici locali in Germania. – 3. L’ordinamento degli enti locali in Germania: fondamento costituzionale e Gemeindeordnungen (GO). – 4. L’ordinamento degli enti locali in Germania: aspetti specifici relativi all’assolvimento delle funzioni e dei compiti del c.d. Daseinsvorsorge nel quadro della disciplina delle attività economiche comunali. – 5. Cennisull’impatto delle politiche e del diritto comunitario. – 6. Il ricorso alle imprese private e la nuova disciplina degli appalti. – 7. La giurisprudenza più recente: alcuni casi guida. – 8. Gli sviluppi più recenti del confronto sul ruolo degli enti locali e dei privati in relazione alla fornitura dei servizi della Daseinsvorsorge. Spunti problematici e conclusivi.

Abstract

This article deals with the issue of local public utilities in the Federal Republic of Germany where urban services have been in the hands of the local public sector since the eve of World War I, although curtailed during the world economic crisis of the late Twenties. The first legal framework in which local authorities could act as entrepreneurs was the Deutsche Gemeindeordnung of 1935. Since the Grundgesetz of 1949 the regulation of the sector has been taken over by the Länder which have maintained part of the DGO rules. Changes have occurred in more recent times, although there is still great resistance towards privatisation because it may jeopardise the granting of the Daseinsvorsorge entitlements, regarded as a primary function of local authorities. The Gemeinden in Germany may authorise any urban service they feel might benefit their community and may also freely choose how to provide it (by contracting out or through Eigenbetriebe or Eigengesellschaften: that is, through respectively a branch of the city administration or a private company whose shares are entirely or partially owned by the city): this they can do as long as a general interest in such initiatives is proven. This study also stresses the impact of EEC regulations on the urban services sector in general and on calls for tender in particular.