Public Private Partnerships in complex governance arrangements : the case of Galileo

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are nothing new. For a long time they have been deployed on the national level as an alternative to public procurement. On the European Union (EU) level PPPs are, however, a new phenomenon. This study addresses the question of whether PPPs are possible in such governance arrangements which are as complex as the EU. The Galileo Satellite Navigation System, the first PPP attempt of the EU, which in the end failed to become a PPP, serves as a case study. By analyzing it in terms of PPP options and models it is found that problems related to structural decisions are more important in determining the success of setting up a PPP than operational decisions. Furthermore, difficulties that arose on the structural level in the case of Galileo are not related to the complexity of the EU setup. It is concluded that PPPs are indeed possible in complex governance arrangements.