Electricity market: deregulation chosen by the member states

Adam Smith (1723-1790), the father of liberalism and a champion of competition, taught that the state should give free rein to the 'invisible hand of the market'. But he did not advocate the abolition of the state, far from it. The state had to organise the market to ensure that it functioned properly. To do this, it had to fulfil three duties, detailed in the work Investigations into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [Smith, 1776]. The first was to have the military means to ensure the country's security. The second was to establish a system of justice that would allow everyone to exercise free will. The third was 'to erect or maintain those public works and establishments from which a great society derives immense benefits and which cannot be undertaken by private individuals' because of overly long-term investments. At the time, these were ports, roads, bridges and canals. They were called 'public goods'. For the founding father of the market economy, these 'public goods', which provided 'immense benefits' and were in fact essential to the functioning of society, should remain within the remit of the state and therefore outside the market. Adam Smith specified that these public goods would evolve as society advanced. They are the forerunners of the French-style public services and services of general economic interest (SGEIs) provided for in the European treaties. The concept has changed, as has the role assigned to the State in the economic sphere