Article 43 of the Constitution: the relevance of its principles and prism of the form of State

Abstract

The «constitutional» framework established by the Letta and Draghi reports underscores the role of public intervention in addressing the numerous challenges facing the future of Europe. The effects of the European integration process, including the liberalizations and privatizations of the 1990s, have led some scholars to consider Article 43 of the Constitution inapplicable in a political-economic model dominated by the principle of competition. However, European law clearly recognizes the direct link between Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and the principle of social cohesion. In view of their function, it allows for exceptions to the competition rule, granting public entities the ability to play a leading role. The «new course» initiated by the European institutions in response to the pandemic crisis has been reaffirmed by the reports, which advocate for the institutionalization of cooperative and mutual-based instruments to equip the European Union with the necessary resources to finance public European policies grounded in the principle of social cohesion. European public economic law, stronger than ever, revitalizes Article 43 of the Constitution, which has been left unused and further diminished by the state legislature