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Rules on services of general interest allow exceptions to the internal market law of the European Union. Do these exceptions really remain within the limits of free competition? Nowadays, this question seems not to be independent from the risk of direct political considerations influencing the market of public services. This tendency may result in national legislative or administrative measures that may run counter to the spirit of the original objectives of European Union integration. European Union substantive and procedural law does not seem to raise unavoidable obstacles to such efforts. In the context of the European Union regulatory framework for services of general interest, our research focuses on the results of an analysis of a database of European Union court cases that highlights the challenges and threats of recent national instruments of public sector organization to the operation of the European Union internal market and competition rules.Points for practitionersThe role of states, either through a shift in their regulatory influence or by means of direct economic intervention, has undergone changes in the last 15 years of European integration. The strengthening populism and illiberal turns may be rooted in the re-understanding of member states’ role in integration through the activism of radical governments and/or political powers, not only in politics. This article is about how the risks of this shift are mirrored in the sectoral policies of public services.