PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, CONCESSIONS AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT LAW

ABSTRACT. Public private partnerships have been developed in several areas of the public sector and are widely used within the EU and the rest of the world, in particular in transport, public health, public safety, waste management and water distribution. In times of tight public budgets their importance can hardly be underestimated. Public Private Partnerships come in different forms. This paper is concerned with the instrument of the concession as a form of public private partnership. Concessions have long been used in certain Member States, particularly to carry out and finance major infrastructure projects such as railways and large parts of the road network. Due to budgetary restrictions and a desire to limit the involvement of public authorities and enable the public sector to take advantage of the private sector's experience and methods, the interest in concessions has been heightened over the last few years. The article explains from a legal point the main characteristics of concessions and its legal regime. It also explains why there is a need for the regulation of concessions and why a broader interpretation of the notion of concession, especially in the context of Public Private Partnerships, is to be preferred