Legal Framework for the Procurement of Public-Private Partnerships – An Australian Perspective in the European Union Context

Abstract

Based on an assumption that in its current shape the EU public procurement framework is a highly regulated and rigid system, in which delivery of successful PPP contracts may be hindered, in this paper it will be considered, whether there could be a different, more beneficial way in which to award PPP contracts. The question is whether an exclusion of the PPP award contract from the Public Sector Directive could be an adequate solution. It is worth considering, whether such a change would provide the flexibility needed and whether, at the same time, it could lead to a lack of legal certainty and hinder the development of EU integration.In order to answer the posed questions the author will apply a general systemic approach. The characteristics of this approach is to introduce and compare – at an overall level – the highly regulated European procurement system to another system which has an absolutely different approach towards procurement in order to investigate, whether an exclusion of PPP contracts from public procurement directives in the EU could be beneficial.