Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria

The political context of governments differs between the UK, Germany and Austria, but each government currently has a positive view of Public private Partnership (PPP). There are many similarities to the drivers for PPPs in Austria, Germany and the UK. The UK has had more experience, and the conserv...

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Main Authors: Ronald W. McQuaid, Walter Scherrer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2008-06-01
Series:Central European Public Administration Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/20254
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author Ronald W. McQuaid
Walter Scherrer
author_facet Ronald W. McQuaid
Walter Scherrer
author_sort Ronald W. McQuaid
collection DOAJ
description The political context of governments differs between the UK, Germany and Austria, but each government currently has a positive view of Public private Partnership (PPP). There are many similarities to the drivers for PPPs in Austria, Germany and the UK. The UK has had more experience, and the conservative-led government in Austria has been moving towards greater use of PPPs of the “privatisation”-type, but only very cautiously towards PPPs of the “PFI-type”. The major motives for moving towards PPPs are macroeconomic or budgetary, especially in Germany and Austria, but also microeconomic or improving the efficiency of public service delivery, especially in the UK. In all three countries PPPs appear to be a systematic middle response to the alternatives of privatisation or public service provision of infrastructure and operational support. There are more significant multi-tiered levels of government in the Federal systems of Germany and Austria, with many autonomous players including federal government, states and municipalities. Investment by the latter two exceeds investment expenditure of the federal government. In the more centralised UK system policies towards PPPs have been relatively rapid and similar, although not identical, across the UK. In Germany the search for a comprehensive approach (Gesamtkonzept) has slowed the dissemination of PPP; Austria seems to handle the issue more pragmatically. One issue that remains crucial to the future impacts of PPPs is whether they offer genuine and sustainable increases in efficiency and effectiveness compared to the alternatives. If they do then they should have a positive impact on future public resource availability, but if they do not then they may provide short-term financial and political benefits, but at the cost of constraining future decision makers and placing greater pressures on public finances in the longer-term.
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spelling doaj-art-975f283042d542ff8ac5a36a3947dc9e2025-01-22T10:56:22ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Central European Public Administration Review2591-22402591-22592008-06-016210.17573/cepar.v6i2.105Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and AustriaRonald W. McQuaidWalter ScherrerThe political context of governments differs between the UK, Germany and Austria, but each government currently has a positive view of Public private Partnership (PPP). There are many similarities to the drivers for PPPs in Austria, Germany and the UK. The UK has had more experience, and the conservative-led government in Austria has been moving towards greater use of PPPs of the “privatisation”-type, but only very cautiously towards PPPs of the “PFI-type”. The major motives for moving towards PPPs are macroeconomic or budgetary, especially in Germany and Austria, but also microeconomic or improving the efficiency of public service delivery, especially in the UK. In all three countries PPPs appear to be a systematic middle response to the alternatives of privatisation or public service provision of infrastructure and operational support. There are more significant multi-tiered levels of government in the Federal systems of Germany and Austria, with many autonomous players including federal government, states and municipalities. Investment by the latter two exceeds investment expenditure of the federal government. In the more centralised UK system policies towards PPPs have been relatively rapid and similar, although not identical, across the UK. In Germany the search for a comprehensive approach (Gesamtkonzept) has slowed the dissemination of PPP; Austria seems to handle the issue more pragmatically. One issue that remains crucial to the future impacts of PPPs is whether they offer genuine and sustainable increases in efficiency and effectiveness compared to the alternatives. If they do then they should have a positive impact on future public resource availability, but if they do not then they may provide short-term financial and political benefits, but at the cost of constraining future decision makers and placing greater pressures on public finances in the longer-term.https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/20254public private partnershipEuropean UnionUKAustriaGermanyeconomic policy
spellingShingle Ronald W. McQuaid
Walter Scherrer
Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
Central European Public Administration Review
public private partnership
European Union
UK
Austria
Germany
economic policy
title Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
title_full Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
title_fullStr Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
title_full_unstemmed Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
title_short Public Private Partnership in the European Union: Experiences in the UK, Germany and Austria
title_sort public private partnership in the european union experiences in the uk germany and austria
topic public private partnership
European Union
UK
Austria
Germany
economic policy
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/CEPAR/article/view/20254
work_keys_str_mv AT ronaldwmcquaid publicprivatepartnershipintheeuropeanunionexperiencesintheukgermanyandaustria
AT walterscherrer publicprivatepartnershipintheeuropeanunionexperiencesintheukgermanyandaustria