ABSTRACT
The legal status of a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) composed solely of legal entities governed by public law (EEIG-PP) raises difficulties under both national and transnational administrative law. A core challenge lies in reconciling the EEIG’s founding principle as an “instrument of inter-company cooperation” requiring that its member have an ancillary “economic activity”, with the public service missions of universities. There are also operational issues to be considered an EEIG-PP’s triggers diverse national and European public law rules regarding employment, competition and procurement, amongst others. Moreover, the EEIG-PP might be a rudimentary “transnational management body”, unable to pave the way fit to European universities. Consequently, alternative instruments should be considered, like the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) or a new hybrid model such as a European Public Interest Grouping (EPIG).
