Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025): Concession contracts

The history of concessions for public works and services in Portugal has been marked by enormous successes in the country's infrastructure development, as well as experiences that have been severely criticised by various political and judicial quarters (in particular by the Court of Auditors) for their financial sustainability and economic rationality. It has often been pointed out that the way in which various concessions and public-private partnerships were structured, poorly prepared, with a deficient allocation of risks to the private partner, and based on often unrealistic demand projections, called into question the budgetary affordability of the projects, placed an unsustainable burden on the public treasury, undermined the ‘principle of intergenerational equity’, and offered private partners advantages that were disproportionate to the investments and risks assumed.