European Procurement and Government Contracts Digest: Closing the Gap on Concession Contracts - European Union sets up harmonised framework for awarding of “concession contracts”

In the European Union (EU), around 60% of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are entered into on a concession basis. This represents an EU-wide market worth more than €100 billion ($135 billion) each year. For the first time, the EU has now issued legislation to harmonise and regulate procurement in the market for public concession contracts.

CONCESSION CONTRACTS IN PRACTICE -

A concession is a grant of rights – perhaps of land or property or, often, a right to operate in a particular sector – by a government, local authority, corporation, individual or other legal entity. The concession may include the right to build and/or use some form of public infrastructure or the right to exploit certain natural resources.