ELI Essential Goods and Services: Towards Inclusive Access and Legal Guarantees

Background

Recent crises - including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate-related disruptions - have exposed structural weaknesses in legal arrangements governing access to goods and services that societies depend on for their basic functioning. Reliable access to such goods and services underpins human dignity, social stability, and the effective operation of democratic institutions. While emergency measures have been widely deployed, they have largely addressed symptoms rather than the underlying legal architecture. 

Historically, welfare states recognized certain goods and services - such as water, energy, health care, and education - as public services subject to specific obligations. Contemporary developments, including digitalisation, financialisation, and increased reliance on complex infrastructures and global supply chains, have expanded perceptions of what is indispensable. However, legal classifications have evolved unevenly across sectors and jurisdictions, resulting in uncertainty as to which goods and services merit special protection, the criteria for such designation, and the responsibilities of public authorities and private providers. 

Against this background, the project addresses the absence of a structured legal approach capable of ensuring reliable access both in normal circumstances and under systemic stress. It responds to emerging risks linked to climate change, cyber threats, geopolitical instability, and pandemics, which challenge existing regulatory models and expose gaps in preparedness.

The topic is of fundamental legal and societal importance. It engages constitutional values such as dignity and solidarity, intersects with fundamental rights related to health, water, and energy, and raises questions of regulatory legitimacy and risk allocation. It also prompts reflection on the respective roles of the EU and its Member States in safeguarding access to goods and services that are critical for social cohesion. The European Law Institute is particularly well positioned to address these issues through its comparative expertise and its capacity to develop principles capable of informing EU legislation and national reforms. 

Aim

The project aims to develop a coherent European legal framework for essential goods and services. Its primary objective is the formulation of ELI Principles on Essential Goods and Services, intended to support legislators and policymakers at both EU and national levels.

These principles will clarify the meaning and scope of essentiality, articulate minimum standards for access and continuity of supply, and identify legal tools – ranging from regulatory obligations to consumer protection and public service mechanisms – capable of securing inclusive and resilient provision. By doing so, the project seeks to strengthen the European social model and enhance legal preparedness for future systemic disruptions.

Outcome

Defining the scope of essential goods and services

The project will begin with a systematic analysis of how essential needs and related concepts are addressed in legislation, case law, and policy at national, European, and international levels.

Building on this analysis, the project will propose criteria for identifying goods and services that warrant classification as essential. Attention will be paid to the evolving rationale for essentiality, which has expanded beyond poverty alleviation and social inclusion to encompass societal resilience, state capacity, and institutional trust. Failures to secure access to critical utilities or infrastructures increasingly have consequences that extend beyond individual hardship, potentially undermining confidence in public authority. The project will therefore explore how legal recognition of essentiality can respond to these broader systemic concerns.

Principles on essential goods and services

In a second phase, the project will elaborate a set of guiding principles to assist lawmakers and regulators in designing legal regimes that ensure the availability and protection of essential goods and services. These principles will offer a structured method for assessing essentiality and outline legal options for safeguarding access under varying market and governance conditions.

The proposed principles will be designed as a stable, rights-based framework applicable beyond emergency situations. They will emphasise long-term access, proportional intervention, and shared responsibility, drawing on concepts of solidarity, public interest, and intergenerational justice. Particular focus will be placed on institutional arrangements that support continuity of supply, facilitate coordination across borders, and provide effective responses to market or systemic failures.