Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector

Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector provides practical guidance on applying Public Private Partnership structures within the constraints of European legislation, with examples on how to ensure consistency with EU procurement, competition law and the Water Framework Directive. It reconciles the need for adequate regulation within the context of a monopoly provision of service – a major concern of the European competition policy.

The purpose of this book is to provide practical guidance on how to introduce a Public Private Partnership (PPP) as a strategy towards helping meet the demands for massive capital investments and improved management and performance in the water and wastewater sector. The introduction of PPPs within a European context needs to be assessed against compliance with basic EU law principles related to Competition and the Water Framework Directive.

International legal structures in the management, distribution and treatment of water are discussed. There is a brief overview of the present realities of European integration, the political and legal aspects involved in the water sector and two cases in which a viable solution was reached and which form the basis of this research.
The book examines the general principles of EU law in terms of competition and procurement and how other directives have an impact on PPP. It then assesses the specific rules applicable to PPP in the EU context, and their implications in designing water PPPs.

The book concludes with a review of two case studies (the City of Sofia, Bulgaria and the City of Tallinn, Estonia) that show how the Public Private Partnership structure chosen provides a sound legal basis and a viable way to achieve compliance with Community law and the Water Framework Directive, thus assisting the process of accession to the EU for each country.

Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector: Developing Sustainable Legal Mechanisms is principally aimed at supporting municipal, provincial, and central governments and other policy makers seeking to improve water services. It is a must read for policymakers and practitioners seeking to navigate through the intricacies of EU legislation and the complexities of public private partnerships. The principles addressed in this book will also be useful outside the European context.