This thesis discusses the ability of Public-Private Partnerships (hereinafter PPPs) to generate socio-environmental benefits .In the ongoing process of boosting growth within the European Union, it is crucial to acknowledge that PPPs could be used as effective public delivery means of both economic and socio-environmental gains. This study recognises PPPs as key elements, not only for the functioning of the Internal Market, but also for the promotion of sustainable development goals. Overall, this thesis argues that PPPs can be considered as viable alternatives in the delivery of sustainable public services and/or infrastructure. Especially in the light of the current European contingencies, the ability of PPPs to generate also socio-environmental benefits represents another important reason why PPPs should be broadly exploited throughout the European Union.

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Public-Private partnerships and sustainable development in the European Union : Another reason to foster the promotion of PPPs as viable alternatives in the delivery of public services and infrastructure

Although international crises are often believed to represent windows of opportunity to strengthen European defence cooperation, recent crises have not seemed to produce a clear convergence of European Union (EU) member states’ security interests. This article seeks to address this puzzle by arguing that European defence cooperation is a response to crises that place European states in a situation of military interdependence. Conversely, asymmetric crises, i.e. crises that affect European states unevenly, encourage those states to maintain their autonomy of action. This theoretical argument is supported by two case studies: the failure of the European Defence Community in the early 1950s and the current difficulties experienced by the EU’s military operations. These two cases illustrate a striking continuity in that, because of (neo)colonial ties in particular, European states are often unevenly affected by international crises, which tends to make defence cooperation less effective.

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Interdependence, asymmetric crises, and European defence cooperation

The role of the national military industrial complex in the establishment of the European Defence Market: the case study of Italy

This article aims to analyze whether the legislation enacted in the field of public procurement in Romania, based on the 2014 EU Directives, is effective in fostering resilience of the public institutions and indirectly of communities, and to provide a fit-for-purpose mechanism for dealing with the pandemic generated by the new type of coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2. The article discusses the necessity of new rules meant to promote swiftly purchases during the state of emergency. Undoubtedly, the pandemic generated crisis has raised some serious challenges to which public procurement regulations is in principle properly equipped to deal with: urgent need for supplies, works and services, but also unemployment or protection of other disadvantaged categories of people. We argue that resorting to specific tools (negotiated procedures, framework-agreements, centralized procurement, sustainable and social procurement, reserved contracts) when carrying out swift interventions generated by the pandemic would have been more suitable during this health crisis or even for preventing the effects of this pandemic. Instead, the attention of the legislator has been concentrated only on (unnecessarily) exempting the swift purchases of medical equipment from the rule of law.

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Resilience in Times Of Pandemic: Is the Public Procurement Legal Framework Fit for Purpose?

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economic and legal rationale for the use of the competitive dialogue in complex procurement. The authors use the data set of public contracts awarded by European Union (EU) member states between 2010 and 2017 to analyse its usage patterns. In particular, the authors identify the types of contracting authorities that mainly use the procedure, the sectors and contract characteristics and the role of institutional factors related to the country’s perceived corruption and level of innovativeness.,The authors discuss economic and legal issues in the use of the competitive dialogue. The authors use a data set of public contracts awarded by EU member states, published on the EU’s public procurement portal Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) to analyse usage patterns and explore the types of contracting authorities that use the procedure, the sectors and type of tenders. The data covers a sample of 1.242.090 observations, which relates to all the contract award notices published on TED in the period 2010-2017 for all the 28 European member states. A probit model is used as a methodology.,The empirical analysis reveals that the use of competitive value is greater for larger value contracts, for national rather than local authorities, for the supply of other manufactured products and machinery; for research and development and business, as well as information technology services; and for construction works. The level of perceived corruption and the gross domestic product/capita do not have explanatory power in the use of the procedure, whilst a country’s degree of innovativeness, as measured by the global innovation index, positively affects the probability of adopting the procedure. A decreasing trend in the use of competitive dialogue over time is observed.,In conclusion, the countries examined benefited from a long tradition of public–private partnerships (PPPs) and from a transposition of the 2004 directive, able to provide an inclusive interpretation of complexity, and therefore, stimulate the adoption of the competitive dialogue in different sectors. Conversely, the countries, which postponed a concrete transposition and the overcoming of the confusing concept of complexity, limited the scope for the application of competitive dialogue, relying on the easier alternative: the negotiated procedure. Those circumstances lead to visible difficulties in stimulating the adoption of the procedure even in the traditional sectors; indeed, only with the new directive’s provisions a slight change in the trend can be seen.,To foster the use of the competitive dialogue in countries that have so far used it to a limited extent is important to improve upon the definition of complexity and learn from the experience of the top usage countries, as identified in the analysis.,Helping the use of the procedure may facilitate the procurement of complex contracts such as PPPs, and thus, ease the building and management of public infrastructures for the provision of public services.,The authors are not aware of previous studies that have used the TED data set and studied the law in a number of European countries so as to understand the usage patterns for the competitive dialogue.

Competitive dialogue: an economic and legal assessment

This Paper examines contract award procedures under the 2014 EU Directive on Public Procurement (Directive 2014/24/EU). The Paper begins with a review of changes to the open, restricted and competitive dialogue procedures before considering potential issues arising from the institution of the competitive procedure with negotiation and innovation partnership procedure. The authors offer some preliminary observations on matters of construction and practical implementation as national legislators, contracting authorities and legal advisers adjust to a new regime ostensibly predicated on greater flexibility.

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Public Procurement Award Procedures in Directive 2014/24/EU

This volume constitutes the first ever attempt to establish a basis for comparative research on defence procurement regulation. For decades there has been repeated emphasis on the extent to which barriers to trade in Europe and the US prevent a more competitive defence market. Transatlantic Defence Procurement offers the first analysis of the potential impact of defence procurement regulation itself as a barrier to trade between the US and the EU. Part I examines the external dimension of a new EU Defence Procurement Directive, focusing on its implications for third countries, in particular the US. Part II examines foreign access and treatment under US law. Part III maps a future research agenda that is essential for a more systematic understanding of legal barriers to transatlantic defence trade. The book provides context for future initiatives, ranging from reformed market access arrangements to a Defence Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and beyond.

Transatlantic Defence Procurement: EU and US Defence Procurement Regulation in the Transatlantic Defence Market

The use of franchises to deliver rail services has raised major problems Franchises restrict competition in the market, whilst competitive bidding for franchises has met with difficulties, notably in relation to risk transfer and the recent use of short‐term contracts that have not been awarded competitively Further, franchise agreements are detailed and highly stipulative and do not achieve the flexibility and opportunities for innovation originally intended This reflects an underlying lack of trust resulting from the arrangements adopted on privatisation By contrast, in Sweden regional services have been procured through contracts with limited risk transfer, and in Italy provision of services has been entrusted to a dominant operator with comparatively limited detailed service specifications; both seem to have been more successful For the future in the UK, possibilities include greater use of competition, a return to public ownership, regionalisation, and the use of concessions with limited risk transfer to secure stability

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Rail Franchises, Competition and Public Service

Whilst the Internal Market has been operational for decades, the free movement of defence products within the EU has been restricted by national licencing practices. Member States have treated “intra-EU” transfers as equivalent to third country exports. The IntraCommunity Transfers Directive (ICT) introduced a harmonised transfer regime. This article provides a first legal analysis and a case study of the challenges facing harmonisation where an evolving Internal Market competence meets a diversity of national security and other interests. The ICT constitutes a significant first step towards reducing barriers to trade but an ambivalent approach to minimum harmonisation has impacted its effectiveness; legal reform is required to further this objective.

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Luke R. A. Butler

Papers

Public Procurement Award Procedures in Directive 2014/24/EU

Transatlantic Defence Procurement: EU and US Defence Procurement Regulation in the Transatlantic Defence Market

Rail Franchises, Competition and Public Service

The internal market and national security: Transposition, impact and reform of the EU directive on Intra-Community Transfers of Defence Products

Qualification, Selection and Exclusion in EU Procurement