Social services of general interest: The European Commission, in its first biennal report of the situation of social services of general interest in the Union, insists on the importance of health services and social services for the European economy with an analysis of the national reforms made in terms of organisation and management of such services (SEC)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. – EC Commission, 2 July 2008, Biennial Report on Social Services of General Interest in the European Union, SEC (2008) 2179/2. The European Commission's first biennial report on social services of general interest (SSGI) was presented in the context of the "Renewed Social Agenda", a package of measures and documents aimed at giving a new impetus to social Europe (see COM (2008) 418 final, of 2 July 2008, A renewed social agenda: opportunities, access and solidarity in 21st century Europe). The principle of biennial reports on this topic was established in the Commission's November 2007 Communication on Services of General Interest in Europe (see COM (2007)