Partnership contracts

Partnership contracts belong to the contractual arrangements commonly referred to as public-private partnerships (PPP).

Inspired in particular by the British example of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which began in 1992 to renovate public infrastructure and services by involving the private sector in the financing of public facilities, France introduced several contractual forms of public-private partnerships into its legislation in 2002, designed to respond to the growing need for public investment in numerous sectors (transport, public health, public safety, education, etc.), given the context of budget restrictions, by involving the private sector in the construction and management of public facilities.

Although contractual instruments for public-private partnerships – in the form, for example, of concession contracts – already existed, French law nevertheless prevented the implementation of certain arrangements insofar as :

• Concession contracts were ruled out in areas where the public service concerned could not be delegated, such as regalian services (police, justice, defense), or in sectors where it was not possible to generate revenue from the operation of facilities, such as public health or education;

• the traditional public procurement contract was not a satisfactory solution for carrying out costly works in a period of severe budget constraints, given the ban on deferred payment in public procurement contracts;

• the METP (marché d'entreprise de travaux publics - public works contract), a formula born of practice, which made it possible to entrust a company with the construction and operation of a structure over a long period, by spreading payment for the construction over the entire duration of the contract, was struck down as illegal, precisely because of the ban on deferred payments.

This contractual tool is not limited to certain specific sectors, but can be used for a wide variety of projects (public lighting, cultural or sports infrastructures, telecommunications infrastructures, energy performance contracts, etc.).