Under EU law, there is no specific system governing PPPs. There is, however, EU legislation which is relevant to certain aspects of PPPs. For example, PPPs represent one method of public sector procurement. The EU has two procurement directives: (i) the Public Sector Directive (2004/18/EC), which prescribes the procedures for the award of works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts and (ii) the Utilities Directive (2004/17/EC), which prescribes procurement procedures for entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal sectors. Furthermore, all contracts in which a public body awards work involving an economic activity to a third party, whether PPPs or not, must be examined in the light of Community rules and principles, including, in particular, the principles of transparency, equal treatment, proportionality and mutual recognition.22
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22 Communication on Public-Private Partnerships and Community Law on Public Procurement and Concessions European Commission Communication COM(2005) 569 final (November 2005) at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0569:FIN:EN:PDF