Throughout Europe the public private partnership model of financing infrastructure is beginning to take a firm hold, with numerous school, road, prison and hospital projects using the technique. But there are some countries and sectors where the process has encountered obstacles. Michael Dunning investigates the problems associated with Italian healthcare PPPs and how lawyers, government officials and project financiers are beginning to find a path through the legal, political and cultural maze

Since the Portuguese Government, back in 1995, initiated a comprehensive programme of road infrastructures, Portugal knew a booming in this particular area, attracting both international sponsors, financiers and different consultants. Until then, project finance had been used here and then in land marks projects such as the Second Tagus Crossing, the Pego Power Station or the Tapada do Outeiro Power Station. But never had such an aggressive program been put in place by a Portuguese Government. B

Light rail and metro projects continue to be pushed as a transport solution across various cities and regions in western Europe. The sector however is still living up to its reputation as perennially troublesome, both for public sector planners seeking to implement these schemes and also for private sector project financiers charged with making their economics stack up or simply just seeking a slice of the action. By Daniel O'Sullivan.

The UK Highways Agency (HA) has big plans for its latest design build finance and operate (DBFO) schemes. Very big. The two schemes which might come out next year could be worth at least £1.5bn each. That compares with the largest scheme the agency has awarded to date, the £240m Darrington to Dishforth (D2D) project which reached financial close in the spring. By Rod Morrison.

On 29th May 2003, financial close was achieved on the £32m initial phase of the East London & The City NHS LIFT (East London LIFT). East London LIFT is the first of the government's ambitious NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) PublicPrivate Partnerships to reach financial close. The first scheme to be built will be a new £7m One Stop Primary Care Centre at Church Road in Newham. Financial close will act as the springboard both for further transactions locally and the development of a new

Recent projects such as the HSL Zuid High Speed Rail Line in the Netherlands and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (stage 1 of which was opened on 16 September 2003 on schedule and on budget) prove that the private sector is ready, willing and able to design, build and finance infrastructure projects in the rail sector, and yet the DBFT projects announced by the SRA as the way forward for infrastructure enhancement on the UK rail network are still not being delivered. In the case of the UK rail indus

The creation of Scottish Water in April 2002, as the successor body to three publicly owned regional water authorities, was a response to the need to make the industry in Scotland more efficient both in operational and cost terms. A unitary body was felt to offer the best opportunity to deliver these objectivesby the streamlining of many services and processes, whilst at the same time harnessing the experience and expertise of the existing skill base. In so doing it created the fourth largest UK

Where would European project finance deal volume be without the Spanish road sector? A steady stream of single-asset, greenfield project financings was broken up earlier this year with a massive €1.6bn project-type deal to fund the Sacyr-led buyout of previously state-owned, multi-concession road company Empresa Nacional de Autopistas (ENA). Now greenfield deals should become the focus once again, as the state rolls out five new road projects with the total investment required in the range of almost E2bn. By Daniel O'Sullivan.

Despite a long political and legal tradition of private financing for public infrastructures, primarily with the use of concession agreements, France has taken on a significant reform initiative geared towards outsourcing public infrastructure development and the managementof public services. By Laurent Deruy, Partner, Head of Public & Environmental Law Department, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris. The move was prompted by the Prime Minister's cabinet, which has sought the assistance and involvement o

Last month was a significant one for the German Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing (the BMVBW). September 12 marked its first publicly visible milestone in establishing toll road structures in Germany with the inauguration in Rostock of the first such scheme, a 700m-long tunnel connecting the west and the east banks of the Warnow river and thereby relieving the historic city from perpetual traffic congestion. Less than two weeks before, however, BMVBW efforts to implement a new tolling system for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) suffered a major setback, perhaps more noticed by the public than the Warnowquerung opening. By Winfried J Bartels, Vice President, Transport Infrastructure Division, DVB Bank AG, Frankfurt/Main.