Institutionalised Public-Private Partnership (IPPP) as a Mixed Contract in the Regime of the New Directive 2014/24/EU.

Abstract

This article points out that procurement law is likely to have the side effect of hindering the development of IPPP contracts by introducing uncertainties regarding IPPP contracts´ classification for the purpose of its procurement. Keeping in mind the Commission´s policy of promoting IPPP contracts across the EU and the potential of IPPP contracts to deliver better quality, more innovative and on time projects as well as their ability to secure better value for money it is argued that such a state of affairs is unwanted. Therefore, the author claims that the Court of Justice (CJ) and the Commission should recognize IPPP contracts as indivisible mixed contracts and establish requirements that need to be fulfilled for such an indivisibility to be granted. The purpose of this article is to discuss the EU public procurement regime established in Directive 2014/24/EU1 (further: the Directive) as a framework for the award of IPPP contracts and the impact of IPPP contracts´ characteristics on the complexity of the tender process. Even though the new procurement directive introduces a number of simplified rules and procedures, still the questions regarding IPPP contracts´ classification and uncertainties following from recent case law stay present. The fundamental bases for the discussion are the outcomes of the Loutraki case and the Oulun kapunki case.