Emerging metagovernance as an institutional framework for public private partnership networks in Denmark

Implementation of public private partnerships (PPPs) in Denmark has been a long and reluctant process. PPPs have been used in municipalities since the late nineties, but were halted because of controversies in 2002. In 2004 the government launched an action plan, and PPPs are emerging again. In this paper, drawing on insights from new public management perspectives, public services are viewed as a network of mixed players with a regulatory framework, a metagovernance. Examples of Danish PPP initiatives are presented. The present metagovernance consists of a comparator, guidelines, feasibility studies and a central competence unit. New issues like employment relations are surfacing. PPPs are thus emerging political programmes in Denmark.