SUOMEN LÄHIJUNAT on Thursday said it has taken ownership of 11 commuter trains previously owned and operated by the state-owned railway company, VR, making it the first private company to own and operate passenger rail services in Finland. The company was established last year in order to deliver regular rail services to two million Finns.
I mean… There are ways around that…
In the case of NS for instance, it is technically a private company but it’s 100% owned by the Dutch state.
Practically this makes it a state-owned operator, even if it is technically private.
Then the Dutch state just grants the concession on the “core-net” for domestic trips to NS.
(The EU does not appear to be a fan of this arrangement, but it seems to be widely supported in Dutch parliament)
I did some research and the NS was never privatised.
What I mean is if any industry is privatised before or after a country joins the EU, they can’t nationalise it anymore. And after joining the EU, they can’t create new national industries.
For example, if Spain found oil on its shores and wanted to economically exploit that, they would have to privatise the oil fields. They wouldn’t be able to set up a new national public oil industry.
For an example of a privatised industry, think the healthcare industry in the Netherlands. It can’t be nationalised and made public, it has to remain private forever as long as the EU exists.
What about renationalising an industry that was already nationalised during EU Association?