Public-private partnerships as a tool for public efficiency and savings: reflections based on the Spanish juridical order

Abstract

The recent economic crisis and its ferocious consequences for public finance and spending have only reinforced the current tendency to give greater prominence to Public-Private Participations for the provision and management of public infrastructures, public works and services. The abundance of international experience, the endless debate on this matter within the European Union and the novelties sanctioned as well by the various reforms in this respect of the Spanish public procurement regulation advise to pay special attention to their design and, in particular, to the possibilities and risks they involve.