The majority of Danish people (60 per cent) are supportive of the increase of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in defence in Denmark, a new survey by Epinion on behalf of Sampension has revealed.

The newly concluded Danish defence political agreement allows the possibility of PPPs being used to improve and expand the physical framework in the defence sector.

The study asked respondents to what extent they agree with the following statement: 'When larger projects are to be carried out in the future on e.g. the defence area, such as establishment of new properties for personnel, it is a good idea to do it as a partnership between the public and private actors such as e.g. pension companies, i.e. with a view to ensuring that the projects are carried out on time, budget and quality as agreed'.

Nearly two thirds (60 per cent) of respondents said that they agreed with the statement either to a ‘very high extent’, ‘to a high extent’ or ‘to some extent.’

However, 16 per cent of respondents said they agree ‘to a low extent’ or ‘not at all’, whilst the rest answered they didn’t know.

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority estimated that there have been 53 PPP projects established in Denmark, with 40 of the projects originating in the period between 2004 to 2014. Sampension made six out of its seven PPP investments in Denmark.

Commenting, Sampension CEO, Hasse Jørgensen, said: "It is very positive, both that from the political side they are now opening up to using public-private partnerships to improve the physical framework of the defence, and that at the same time there also seems to be support in the population for this.

“There is a great socio-economic potential in increasing the use of PPP here at home, e.g. when it comes to building new barracks. And we are happy to engage constructively in a dialogue about the possibilities.

“Specifically, the new political agreement implies, among other things, that the number of conscripts and the period of conscription will be extended in the coming years, which is expected to lead to an increased need to strengthen the physical framework of the defence.

“Here, the parties to the agreement agree that this can be done through the use of PPPs, and therefore, according to the text of the agreement, ‘an investigation of the potential of public-private partnerships must be initiated with a view to improving the physical framework for the area of ​​defence’."

Jørgensen said the pension company saw PPPs as having several advantages, but noted that, at the same time, there was "widespread misunderstanding" that the socio-economic benefit of the model was the financing part.

He emphasised that, while financing was also included, Sampension believed this was not the primary reason that the model should be chosen.

“Here it can instead be emphasised that, in terms of experience, PPP projects have been shown to adhere to schedule and budget to a much greater extent than traditional public construction projects, which is not least due to the fact that the parties in a PPP project have a financial incentive to complete the agreed time and price," he said.

"Another advantage that is worth noting is that the parties in a PPP project generally think long-term from the start.

"We hope that this political agreement can help pave the way for a decisive breakthrough for the PPP model. Because even though this year marks 20 years since the first PPP project was decided at home, the model has not really taken root.

“In the last 10 years, the gas has gone off the PPP balloon to that extent, which is a shame. But now there are hopefully new times on the way.”

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