In Europe, Common Law does not provide a specific definition of a public-private partnership.1 However, a general definition is a form of contractual agreement between a public sponsor and private provider(s) that providers for greater involvement of the private sector in the provision and financing of public infrastructure or services, with a view to improving efficiency and reducing costs. By expanding the private sector role, the public sector is seeking to avail itself of the technological, managerial, and financial resources to leverage scarce public funds and expedite the delivery of a project and/or services in a more cost-effective manner and with reduced risk to the public agency sponsor. By sharing responsibility and resources for the delivery of a PPP project, both public and private sectors can share in the potential risks and rewards from the delivery of the facility or service relative to what they retain responsibility for.2
PPPs come in a wide variety of arrangements, representing a broad spectrum of private and public sector involvement in the various phases of project development, finance, implementation, operations, maintenance, and preservation. The five major types of PPP arrangements are listed below.
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1 European Commission. "Guidelines for the Successful Public-Private Partnerships." Directorate-General for Regional Policy, Brussels, Netherlands, March 2003, p. 19.
2 National Council for Public-Private Partnerships. "Public Private Partnerships Defined." http://www.ncppp.org/howpart/index.shtml#define