Analysis of Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
European Union Countries

Background

PB Consult is providing advice on legal, regulatory, economic and financial issues for PPPs eligible for funding from the European Commission's ISPA program.

The European Commission is investing heavily in developing infrastructure in the 10 countries on track to join the European Union in coming years.  Annual budgets are approximately €1 billion per year, provided through the Instrument for structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) program. The European Commission's Regional Policy Directorate-General (DG REGIO) has responsibility for evaluating and establishing public-private partnerships (PPPs) for environmental and transportation improvements in Central European nations preparing to accede to the European Union.

PB Consult Services

PB Consult is a lead member of a Framework Contract Consortium that is providing short-term assistance for promotion, identification appraisal and monitoring of the implementation of projects that may be part-financed by ISPA and private operators in the field of environment and transport.  Tasks under this Framework Contract include:

1. Production of guidelines and checklists to promote PPP projects in the ISPA countries
2. Economic, legal, and technical assessment of PPP projects;
3. Technical assistance in preparing PPP project proposals to the EU;
4. Studies and background reports for municipalities interested in PPP projects;
5. Identification and evaluation of investment scenarios;
6. Estimation of projects revenues and application of the polluter-pays principle; and
7. Analysis of potential weaknesses in the implementation of projects and proposals for corrective action.

The tasks comprise the study of files in Central European Candidate Countries (CECC) countries as well as on-site inspection visits and discussions with the responsible authorities in the beneficiary countries.

PB Consult tasks undertaken to date include the assessment of the legal status of six water and wastewater utilities in six Slovak municipalities.

In Poland, for example, PB Consult provided technical assistance to enable the City of Warsaw to prepare for $500 million in wastewater and water investments by providing a quantified comparison between the costs and benefits, advantages and disadvantages of different arrangements for the implementation of the project (i.e. full implementation within the public sector, design-build-operate, build-operate-transfer, management contract). 

The mission analyzed the previous, current and future ownership of the water company and the water management assets in the project areas. The assessment established whether part of the ownership has been or may be handed over to private investors. It clarified the conditions of the contracts and estimated whether the water management company is participating in the investment costs and whether there is a scope for making undue profit. Finally the report established the conditions according to which the contracts were awarded (draft concession; tendering procedures; evaluation procedure) and evaluated whether the European rules for fair and open competition have been respected.