Portugal’s legal framework for public-private partner-ships (PPPs) was only drawn up in 2003. Prior to that, PPP initiatives were governed by the general legal provisions applicable to any administrative contracts submitted to the public legal regime and were launched and regulated through specific legislation tailored for each project.
The main features of PPPs are that they exist as a coalition of public and private entities, which maintain a long-lasting contractual relationship where the rights and obligations of both parties are specified, and that the coalition is aimed at meeting a certain purpose – common to both the public and private parties – which consists in the rendering of a certain service of public interest in a more efficient way, in the scope of a programme or policy designed by public entities.
