3. INSTITUTIONALISED PPPS AND THE COMMUNITY LAW ON PUBLIC CONTRACTS AND CONCESSIONS

53. Within the meaning of this Green Paper, institutionalised PPPs involve the establishment of an entity held jointly by the public partner and the private partner.⁵⁰ The joint entity thus has the task of ensuring the delivery of a work or service for the benefit of the public. In the Member States, public authorities sometimes have recourse to such structures, in particular for to administer public services at local level (for example, for water supply services or waste collection services).

54. Direct cooperation between the public partner and the private partner in a forum with a legal personality allows the public partner, through its presence in the body of shareholders and in the decision-making bodies of the joint entity, to retain a relatively high degree of control over the development of the projects, which it can adapt over time in the light of circumstances. It also allows the public partner to develop its own experience of running the service in question, while having recourse to the support of a private partner.

55. An institutionalised PPP can be put in place, either by creating an entity held jointly by the public sector and the private sector (3.1), or by the private sector taking control of an existing public undertaking (3.2).

56. The discussion below focuses solely on issues concerning the law on public contracts and concessions applicable to institutionalised PPPs. For a more general discussion of the impact of this law when setting up and executing such PPPs, please refer to the preceding chapters.

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50. The Member States use different terminology and schemes in this context (for example, the Kooperationsmodell, joint PPPs, Joint Ventures).