ABSTRACT
The jurisprudence of the Court of Justice regarding the combined application of Articles 90 and 86 amounts to a 'velvet revolution' in which Europe's regulated sectors are exposed, to the forces of free competition in a manner compatible with their universal service obligations. Article 90 provides that Member States may only grant special or exclusive rights to public undertakings if they respect the Treaty rules. Article 90 addressed to the undertakings themselves, provides that they are subject to the Treaty as long as the application of those rules does not prevent them from carrying out their assigned tasks in the 'general economic interest'. The triumph of the free market in Europe's regulated sectors is due in large part to three jurisprudential innovations of the Court of Justice regarding the combined application of Articles 90 and 86. The Court has stated that quasi-legislative powers should not be used to micro-manage the means by which the Member States liberalise their regulated sectors.
