European Public-Private Partnership

Welcome to the web site of the European PPP Forum, part of EIPA’s commitment to strengthening understanding of and ability to implement European policies by enhancing the capacity of public administrations.

The European PPP Forum aims to fill a gap in the market – it is independent of the interests in PPP of service providers and of public administrations, it is able to draw on EIPA’s wide ranging contacts across Europe, it is open to diversity of views and it is committed to promoting informed choice about PPP for public administrations ie when to use PPP as a means of delivering public services and how to do so effectively.

In short, the Forum aims to be Europe’s PPP observatory - assessing the current role of public-private partnerships in delivering public services, their future and the risks, challenges and opportunities arising from the use of PPP.

You will find details of our PPP seminars which we hope you will want to attend and – in the traditional EIPA style – contribute vigorously to!

December 2011 saw the publication of the proposed legislative changes on concessions and reform of the Public Procurement rules.

A very interesting and very welcome development (and long overdue) is the recently launched wide-ranging UK review of PFI - see this month’s Talking Point. As usual, other views for publication will be welcome.

EIPA will be offering three main horizontal activities related to PPP in 2012:
• A workshop on appraising, prioritising and procuring public sector capital investment projects in March 2012
• A further Master Class on Competitive Dialogue and Negotiated Procedures in October 2012, following the successful Master Classes in the past two years
• The annual workshop on how to blend PPP with EU Structural Funds in November 2012

The first two of these events are now open for registration via www.eipa.eu and other specialist events are also being planned on PPP financing and PPP in the transport sector.

If you haven’t yet been to an EIPA seminar, they typically include presentations, discussion of experience at European and Member State level and exchange of experiences. But the Forum doesn’t just exist through EIPA seminars – it also includes news of the latest legislative and other developments in PPP, discussion of current and emerging issues and significant developments in the PPP from Europe and beyond.

We hope you will find the Forum a place where PPP is discussed in a lively and topical manner – and where you can contribute to the debate on the issues which matter to you.

Michael Burnett
Director, European PPP Forum
Curriculum Vitae