ABSTRACT
How to avoid the twin traps of an “inactive public shareholder” and “too much interventionism” at national and global levels? The answer to this question explains the common core of legal principles applicable to all SOEs and the existence of some supplementary rules specifically applicable to some of them. While the first ones aim to insure public control of the entities in a way compatible with global competition, the second ones allow their rules of organization and functioning to adapt to the current economic and social needs. At the same time, we attempt to construct a universal definition of SOEs and to refocus their activities on those of public interest.
