The Public/Private Divide in EU Law

The paper will consider whether the extent of one’s Treaty obligations is dependent on whether one is classified as an individual or as a State – whether one is considered public or private. In the first phase of EU law it seemed that free movement rules were applicable to the public sphere whilst competition rules were applicable to the private sphere. This distinction is challenged by Bosman, Angonese, and Viking, which seemingly subject non-state actors and actions to the free movement rules. However, it will be argued that a public/private distinction is both necessary and maintained. Okeoghene Odudu is Fellow in Law at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. He is also Deputy Director of Centre for European Legal Studies and co-editor (along with Professor Catherine Barnard) of the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies. His current research focuses on the enforceability (administrability) of competition law and the relationship between Union competition law and other Treaty provisions.