Christopher Bovis, Wei Hu

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 6 (2011), Issue 1, Page 14 - 22

I. Introduction Government procurement1 is defined by OECD as the purchasing of goods and services by the government for consumption and investment, but not for resale.2 Effective procurement practices are transparent reflecting on the quality of public finances, and are essential for efficiency in public spending. The result of acquiring optimum quality goods and services for public consumption at competitive prices is improved value for taxpayers’ m

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 6 (2011), Issue 2, Page 53 - 60

I. Introduction Since its foundation, the European Union has developed a system of legal, economic and political integration which is to be achieved through the progressive convergence of the economic policies of the Member States1. In this context, public procurement becomes one of the keystones within the European law with an estimate amount of business of Euro one trillion which represents about 20 % of the GPD; but what is public procurement in th

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 6 (2011), Issue 3, Page 105 - 110

During 2009–10, public contracts worth around €420 billion were advertised in accordance with the EU Public Procurement Directives. The aim of these rules is to ensure that the relevant public purchasing contracts are open to competition for suppliers across the internal market. At the same time, EU law does not restrict the freedom of a contracting authority to perform the public interest tasks conferred on it by using its own administrative, technical

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 5 (2010), Issue 2, Page 12

Public Procurement, Public-Private Partnerships and Public Services in the EU I. Introduction The regulation of public procurement has been an instrumental component of the EU common market, as it has provided a platform for economic, legal and policy justifications in order to eliminate non-tariff barriers1. Public procurement in the European Union has been significantly influenced by the White Paper for the Completion of the Internal Market2 and the

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 5 (2010), Issue 3, Page 167 - 190

I. Introduction Concerns regarding free trade and competition are ongoing and continuous attempts are made to limit obstacles thereto. They formed part of the agenda during discussions for the creation of an International Trade Organisation in the late 1940s, reflecting concerns informed by the behaviour of German cartels and Japanese zaibatsu in the pre-war period that international cartel and restrictive business practices block market access. In th

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 5 (2010), Issue 1, Page 14

Editorial Public Private Partnerships: The Challenges and Opportunities for Delivering Public Services in the 21st Century A great deal of interest surfaces when questions are asked on how public services could be organised, financed and delivered. Traditional policy discourse has focused on the role of the state as the conduit in providing public services1. The term public services often refers to services which are offered to the general p

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 4 (2009), Issue 4, Page 11

Editorial Public services and Public private partnerships: Delivery and competition issues The end of the post-1992 European order era arrived with the rather spectacular failure of the EU Member States to ratify the Constitutional Treaty. But not all is lost. The EU as an example of economic integration has matured beyond expectations. The internal market has made remarkable progress in enhancing intra-community trade and the liberalisation

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 4 (2009), Issue 1, Page 6

Editorial Institutional public-private partnerships often represent a preferred option for Member States to deliver public services. Equally, the contractual and procurement interface of such entities attracts the attention of the European Commission. In October 2008, open compliance proceedings against Spain regarding the joint ventures set up by publicly owned companies IVVSA and AUMSA. IVSSA (Instituto Valenciano de Vivienda, S.A.) and AUMSA (

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 4 (2009), Issue 1, Page 19

The Effects of the Principles of Transparency and Accountability I. Introduction The principles of transparency and accountability depict the skeleton of public procurement and public- private partnerships regulation. They have direct influence on two fronts: a) the behavioral patterns of the state, public bodies and contracting authorities and b) the emergence and structure of a sui generis market place. The regulation of public procurement, through

Christopher Bovis

European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, Volume 4 (2009), Issue 2, Page 6

EPPPL 2|2009 Editorial 65 The White Paper on services of general interest and the importance of public private partnerships in their delivery In recent years, the role of the European Union in shaping the future of services of general interest has been at the centre of the debate on the European model of society. Recognising the crucial importance of well-functioning, accessible, affordable and high-quality services of general interest for the qu