The Progressive Post

Build an open access database on ‘who owns Europe’

Ownership of public utilities is at the centre of politics – but it's too hard to know.

22/04/2019

Whether a government or private enterprise should directly own and control an activity is at the heart of politics – that’s why the question ‘who owns Europe’ is an incredibly important one. But a lack of consistent, long-term data on public and private ownership makes it virtually impossible for citizens to understand who actually holds that ownership. European Authorities should promote a user-friendly, open access database with clear data on who owns the continent.

The question “who owns Europe” could be interpreted in many ways. Who owns what, in Europe? One avenue of inquiry, in this globalised and increasingly financialised world, is: who owns the entities that produce and deliver goods and services to European citizens on a daily basis? Who owns the hospitals, schools, highways, transport systems, prisons, supermarkets, food suppliers, banks, and cultural media that we consume and depend upon? Some claim ownership does not matter – regulation ensures citizen interests are well protected. But surely ownership does matter. Ownership is ultimately connected to control and accountability, and the question of who controls an activity and who is accountable are clearly important ones, especially when the goods and services produced and delivered are essential to the quality of citizens’ lives.

It used to be quite easy to answer this question in Europe: central and local governments owned and ran public services and some industries, whilst the private sector owned and ran “commercially valid goods and services. Today, the short answer is, it is very hard to know who owns these entities. There are many reasons for this.

First, as is well known, a privatisation “wave” occurred from the 1980s onwards, first in the UK but later spreading across continental Europe – encouraged by the European Commission Liberalisation Directives – and many services considered public – telecommunications, energy, financial – were sold and transferred to the private sector, under government regulation (Clifton, Comín and Díaz-Fuentes, 2006).

Second, more subtle forms of privatisation occurred; not a wholesale transfer to the private sector, rather, partial movements, as seen in Public Private Partnerships Contracting out (or outsourcing), or Corporatisation (where a government uses a company to deliver services), for instance.

Third, privatisation was found not to be a one-way-street – instances increased of “reverse privatisation” as Hefez and Warner have called it, which could be seen in out- right re-nationalisation or more subtle forms of contracting back in (insourcing, previously outsourced activities in-house).

Fourth, as a response to the 2008 financial crisis, a number of governments in Europe renewed their efforts to further privatisation, giving rise to a new wave of sales.

Privatisation was literally imposed by the so-called Troika most notably in the Hellenic Republic. Changes also occurred in the private sector. Globalisation and financialisation increased foreign ownership of European assets. Foreign ownership was not always necessarily private. This could lead to situations where European assets (originally public or private) were sold to foreign investors (public or private, mean- ing governments). Governments of China, Russia or Sweden were effectively buying critical assets in Europe.


Whether a government or private enterprise should directly own and control an activity is at the heart of politics.

Complexity and change therefore characterises the ongoing question of who owns Europe. A large public sector remains, and the public-private balance is organised differently across countries and sectors. There are, of course, some attempts to answer this question, all of which are partial and incomplete. The OECD and EUROSTAT provide some data on ownership of select sectors, whilst ORBIS provides data on ownership of private sectors and public assets which have been corporatised. However, it is a daunting task to combine these datasets for an overall picture. A recent initiative by the European Commission has attempted to do just this – unfortunately, the focus was only on public assets, ignoring the equally important question of who owns private assets.

Given this complexity and the importance of the issue, the call is to work towards a user-friendly, open access database which would allow citizens to view and comprehend who owns the different providers of goods and services upon which the quality of their life so clearly depends. The European Commission recently commissioned a study on the public side of this question – this call asks for this work to be extended to the private side so citizens have a clear view of who owns Europe.

Find all related publications
Publications
05/03/2024

A European feminist foreign policy?

The need for a progressive and transformative approach
01/03/2024

The transformation of the mainstream right in Western Europe

Implications for social democracy
01/03/2024

Next Left Vol. 15

Progressive Ambition: How to shape Europe in the next decade
29/02/2024

The European political community

Informality as a key to success
Find all related news
News
18/03/2024

FEPS President on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?’

NATO extension, Portuguese elections, far-right and gender equality were the topics of the debate
08/03/2024

Discover the updated EU Care Atlas!

07/03/2024

Call for videos – Your Call to Europe

This call closed on 24/03/2024
04/03/2024

FEPS at the PES Election Congress in Rome

Find all related in the media
In the media

Women leaders in CSOs—overworked, overwhelmed

by Social Europe 27/03/2024
This article published in the digital media Social Europe focuses on the findings of FEPS policy study 'Women CSO leaders for systemic change'

The EU pursues make-believe in Bosnia

by Financial Times 23/03/2024
Financial Times featured our policy brief 'Bosnia-Herzegovina', which analyses the journey of BiH's EU membership and the necessary reforms to make it happen

AI won’t replace quality journalism, but sector needs safeguarding, says socialist think tank head

by Euractiv 18/03/2024
Interview with FEPS President on the role of media in Europe’s future

FEPS President on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?’

by Euronews 16/03/2024
FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues discusses NATO expansions and elections in Russia and Portugal on Euronews talk-show ‘Brussels, my love?‘