public-private partnerships

The Zagreb wastewater plant public-private partnership (PPP), financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has for years been highlighted by Bankwatch and its member group Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia as a harmful project allowing the private sector enormous profits at the expense of the City of Zagreb and the public.

A United Nations study finds that public-private partnerships involve substantial risks for the public sector and have often failed to yield ‘value for money’.

Although World Bank research and documents acknowledge the limitations of public-private partnerships the bank continues to push PPPs despite concerns.

The complicated nature, hidden future debts and other characteristics of public-private partnerships have led the Czech Republic's national security service to consider them a potential threat to public interests.

Despite collecting impressive evidence from 20 years of failed public-private partnerships in central and eastern Europe, an EBRD-financed study by the Economist Intelligence Unit concludes to continue using the controversial financing scheme.

A new report takes a critical look at the engagement of European development banks in Egypt after the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North African region. This article appeared originally on the Counter Balance blog and has been shortened and slightly edited.

Pushing for public-private partnerships will not support democratisation in the Arab Spring countries but risks increasing their public debt. Our new website brings together the PPP lessons that Europe should have learned.