Le contrat de partenariat constitue-t-il une private finance initiative à la française ?. Le périmètre du recours aux contrats de partenariat à l'aune de l'expérience britannique

In June 2004, France adopted a new PPP contract known as the contrat de partenariat. Most features of this new procurement method have been drawn out from the best practices of the British Private Finance Initiative (PFI) policy. Firstly, long-term service contracts with performance-related payments were introduced into the French procurement system. Secondly, the decision to enter into such a transaction needs to be justified both in value for money terms and in legal terms (depending on the contingency requirements (urgency) or complexity of the project). Finally, government projects are required to seek clearance from an advisory body responsible for scrutinising the appraisal process. However, whilst PFI covers a vast array of transactions, ranging from concessions to long-term leases, the new French contract is implemented in the general legal environment applicable to existing alternative forms of PPP. A statistical study of contracts signed since 1987 has been carried out using available data relating to the British PPP, and then procurement methods applied to French projects within the French legal framework have been examined and compared with British projects. This article aims to determine the prospects of development of the contrat de partenariat through this comparison of British and French PPP?s. The final results of this analysis leads us to conclude that this new PPP would only be applicable to a limited number or specific types of projects. However, the mandatory value for money testing, which is not required for concessions and alternative forms of PPP, should favour the development of these contracts by obliging the awarding authority to make comparisons of efficiency with alternative procurement methods.