The Guide is primarily intended for public sector officials from EU Member States who are in charge of TEN-T projects and have knowledge and experience in conventional public procurement but who are not familiar with PPP arrangements. Users may find themselves at different stages of decision-making in the PPP project cycle. To illustrate this point consider the following hypothetical scenarios:
□ Scenario 1 - A TEN-T project proposal has been identified and initial pre-feasibility studies completed. The public contracting authority is considering whether to follow a PPP route and needs to compare PPP against other available procurement strategies to be able to select a preferred procurement option. The Guide suggests a number of sources of information to help the public sector authorities to do the necessary analysis to check if PPP is the preferred procurement option (Chapter 2).This analysis normally involves an ex ante comparison of a PPP with a notional conventionally funded project (a Public Sector Comparator). The following elements will usually be considered:
• Affordability (i.e. the revenue consequences of the options);
• Risk allocation (i.e. the risks that will be retained by the public sector under each option);
• Value for Money (i.e. the cost and quality consequences of the options);
• Bankability (i.e. the feasibility of securing private finance for the project under reasonable market conditions); and
• Eurostat treatment of PPP projects (i.e. the impact of a PPP on the public authority's debt and deficit situation).
□ Scenario 2 - A public contracting authority is committed to develop a TEN-T project with a PPP arrangement but the public officials in charge of defining the project strategy have not been previously involved, or have little experience, with PPP procurement methods. They need to understand, among other things, what to expect in terms of how to seek expert advice, the steps required in the PPP project cycle, and how to engage with the private sector. The Guide provides a "road map" of all the steps that need to be taken in the procurement phase of the PPP cycle (Chapter 3 and Chapter 4).
□ Scenario 3 - A TEN-T PPP project is already under implementation and the PPP company proposes changes to the contract, which may impact its financial balance and the Value for Money rationale of the existing PPP arrangement, for example. The public sector officials in charge need to understand the impact of the proposed changes and what information to request from their advisers to be able to negotiate with the PPP company with a view to preserve Value for Money in the contract. The Guide covers the key issues that the public contracting authority needs to consider when renegotiating a PPP contract (Chapter 5).