With the financial assistance of the European Western Balkans Joint Fund (EWBJF) under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) supports beneficiary countries in their efforts to strengthen the capacity to prepare and procure sound PPPs.

At the end of EPEC’s second two-year horizontal assignment, aimed at disseminating Public-Private Partnership (PPP) knowledge and good practice on PPP project preparation and procurement across the Western Balkans, the outputs of experts' joint work with the beneficiary countries on “Strengthening the Capacity of the Public Sector to Undertake PPPs in the Western Balkans” are available. These are:

• A Guide to Preparing and Procuring a PPP Project: good practice from the European PPP market provides a framework for decision-makers when preparing and procuring PPP projects in the Western Balkans.
• A Guide to the Main Provisions of an Availability-based PPP Contract: a general guide to the main provisions and key terms commonly adopted to manage the principal elements of an availability-based PPP contract.
• A Guide to the Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Value for Money in PPPs: a practical approach on how to conduct quantitative and qualitative VfM assessments, based on current European practice.
• PPP Procurement Handbook: guide aimed at supporting public authorities in the Western Balkans to efficiently structure and manage the PPP procurement process.
• PPP Projects in the Western Balkans: Good Practice, Challenges and Lessons Learnt: Expert review of PPP projects: infrastructure needs, assessment of 10 PPP projects, lessons learnt and recommendations.

About EPEC

The European PPP Expertise Centre's mission is to support the public sector across Europe in delivering better public-private partnerships (PPPs).EPEC was created in 2008 to support Member States of the EU, EU Candidate States and others in their work on PPPs. Today, EPEC's team of experienced PPP professionals, based in the Advisory Services Department of the European Investment Bank (EIB), serves 41 EPEC member organisations. These organisations are typically national or regional PPP units, and other public entities in charge of PPPs, as well as the European Commission.

What is PPP?

Put simply, a public-private partnership (“PPP”) is an arrangement between a public authority and a private partner designed to deliver a public infrastructure project and service under a long-term contract. Under this contract, the private partner bears significant risks and management responsibilities. The public authority makes performance-based payments to the private partner for the provision of the service (e.g. for the availability of a road) or grants to the private partner the right to generate revenues from the provision of the service (e.g. tolls from users of a bridge). Private finance is usually involved in a PPP. When properly prepared, PPP projects can provide significant benefits to the public sector as well as to the project users.