This book looks at the changing role and nature of the regulation of State intervention in the liberalized and privatized markets of the European Union. It examines how the traditional role of the State is now challenged by European Union law, and the implications for traditional public services provided by the State. For the first time in an academic work, the book brings together the interaction of the Internal Market and the Competition rules of the European Union when they are applied to State economic activity. Individual chapters examine specific rules which address squarely the permissible role of State activity in competitive markets — an examination of the State aid rules, the rules in Article 86 EC regulating State monopolies, and the controversial application of Article 81 EC and Article 82 EC to the State. Other chapters examine the processes of privatization and liberalization with case studies on the postal sector, utilities, and telecommunications.