Input statement, Gödöllö, 21 June 2011 Daniel Rauhut Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden Indicators and Perspectives for Services of General Interest in Territorial Cohesion and Development (SeGI)

Expected and preliminary findings The concept of Services of General Interest is a very vague concept as it covers a wide range of services – from the investment in nuclear power plants to consumption of kindergarten services, from consumption medical care services to investment transport (roads, railways etc). The responsibility of Services of general interest in general, including transports, is delegated from the EU-level to the Member States, which, in turn, hand over the responsibility of transport to other actors (e.g. regional and local planning offices). Consequently, accessibility and connectivity aspects become rather heterogeneous seen from a territorial perspective. Accessibility and connectivity – in this case to transport – will then be defined, conceptualised, measured and evaluated by national standards. Furthermore, e.g. accessibility can be conceptualised in distance (km or time), but also if a citizen or firm can afford to use the service.

If Services of general interest – including transports – shall be able to contribute to the policy agenda of territorial cohesion a common way of defining, conceptualising, measuring and evaluating e.g. accessibility and connectivity must be reached. The common view can be reached by, for example, binding agreements between the EU and the Member States, or by a review/revision of the institutional structure. This is a highly sensitive political question! Expected and preliminary suggestions