The European Parliament,
- having regard to the Commission Green Paper on public-private partnerships and Community law on public contracts and concessions (COM(2004)0327),
- having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, particularly Article 5(2) thereof on the principle of subsidiarity and Articles 43 to 49 thereof on freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services, and to the principles derived therefrom of transparency, equal treatment, proportionality and mutual recognition,
- having regard to the directives on public procurement currently in force,
- having regard to the Council of Europe's European Charter of Local Self-Government of 15 October 1985,
- having regard to Article I-5 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,
- having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,
- having regard to the report of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Committee on Regional Development (A6-0363/2006),
A. whereas numerous public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been created in many Member States over the past decade,
B. whereas there is as yet no definition applicable throughout Europe, nor are there any specific provisions in current Community law, to cover all the different forms of PPP,
C. whereas a PPP can be described as a long-term, contractually regulated cooperation between public authorities and the private sector to carry out public assignments, in which the requisite resources are placed under joint management and project risks are apportioned appropriately on the basis of the risk management skills of the project partners,
D. whereas PPPs are often legally, financially and commercially complicated structures, bringing together private undertakings and public authorities for the purpose of jointly carrying out and managing infrastructure projects or providing public services,
E. whereas in the main, local and municipal authorities have sought to enter into PPP projects; whereas, however, there is also a need for such projects at European level, not least to implement the trans-European transport networks,
F. whereas PPPs are not a first step towards the privatisation of public tasks,
G. whereas the purpose of PPP contracts is to enable public authorities to benefit from the design, construction and management skills of private enterprises and, if necessary, from their financial skills,
H. whereas cooperation between public authorities and industry can produce synergies and public benefits, enable public funds to be used more efficiently, serve as an alternative to privatisation in times of scarce budgetary funding and help public administrations to modernise by acquiring know-how from the private sector,
I. whereas PPPs come as a matter of principle within the scope of the Treaty's internal market provisions, particularly the principles of transparency, equal treatment, proportionality and mutual recognition, as well as within the provisions of secondary Community law on public procurement,
J. whereas private investors must be provided with guarantees that the terms of a contract will not be altered during its lifetime,
K. whereas any legal regime for PPPs should respect the right of local and regional self-government, in so far as it is enshrined in the Member States' national laws,
L. whereas PPPs represent a possible way of organising the fulfilment of public sector tasks, and whereas the public sector must continue to be able to determine whether it fulfils a task itself or does so through its own undertakings or through third parties from the private sector,
M. whereas citizens' awareness of the impact of PPPs should be increased,