Il principio di economicità nella nozione di impresa e nella pubblica amministrazione

[Autom. eng. transl.] According to the EU jurisprudence the carrying out of an economic activity is the qualifying element of the enterprise according to the art. 82 (ex 86) and 86 (ex 90) of the Treaty. Also in the Italian legal system, the notion of enterprise, derived from the codistic definition of entrepreneur (art. 2082 cc), is based on the development of an "organized economic activity". In both cases, the economic nature of the activity was linked to methods of action in accordance with the principle of cost-effectiveness, understood however in non-coinciding meanings. This principle also characterizes public administration today. The paper proposes to understand if the principle of cheapness has a common meaning or takes instead different meanings in each of these contexts, through the examination of its legal basis and its raison d'être.