Beyond the New Public Procurement Directive – the Future for Public Private Partnerships (PPP)

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) matter as a way of delivering public services, because there are so many pressures driving public authorities to use them across different sectors and Member States. They are often complex transactions, leading to long, high-value contracts, in high profile sectors, so the opportunities and risks are correspondingly greater than in other public procurements. And, because they are relatively new, there is a need to ensure that the way they are carried out and their impact over time on public service delivery are watched very closely. It is also important to make sure that they are not adversely affected in future by legal uncertainty, even though this has not been a major barrier so far. After analysing the risks and challenges, this article goes on to propose how PPP can be used more effectively and how the potential legal uncertainty can be reduced, thus helping to ensure that PPP remains a viable option for public service delivery in the EU, Accession States and Candidate Countries