Publiek-private samenwerking in de Nederlandse energiesector: vorm en legitimiteit

The Dutch government has high expectations for the developments around green gas. Green gas is the name given in the energy industry to biomass that is converted into biogas and then refined into natural gas quality. The government cooperates with private initiatives to realize green gas projects. Their cooperation often takes the shape of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). A PPP directed at promoting public interests is often used by the government as a repair or remedial strategy. This is based on the conviction that there can be no guarantee – or at least no adequate guarantee – for a success when one is faced with spontaneous free market processes, forms of policy networking or a strictly hierarchical public administration operating at a suboptimal level. In that case, between the government and private sector actors a partnership can be arranged that fits in with the type of arrangement in which the PPP is originally supposed to perform its repair function spontaneously. The following distinction can be drawn between such types of PPPs: (i) market PPP, (ii) network PPP and (iii) authority PPP. PPP policy/decision-making harbors various legitimacy risks. The legitimacy of green gas projects can be guaranteed if the choice of a PPP is democratically and constitutionally founded and if the type of PPP fits in with the value notion underlying the type of policy arena in which the PPP is to perform its repair function. Based on this study, we believe that legal form must follow function in order to guarantee the legitimacy of PPP policy/decision-making.