Transparent, commercially viable procurement and PPP frameworks are essential for accelerating public projects and reducing reliance on high-risk PRC-backed entities, while creating fair, open markets that allow U.S. firms to engage competitively across strategic sectors. From September 8-12, 2025, CLDP, in partnership with the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia, convened the fourth Europe Regional Working Group on Public Procurement and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Tallinn, Estonia, focused specifically on the intersection of procurement and infrastructure with national security. The meeting brought together officials from 11 European countries to build a regional pipeline of PPP projects aligned with international best practices and attractive to trusted American firms. Participants shared updates on procurement challenges and upcoming infrastructure projects in their countries, and discussed how governments can ensure that the systems and partners that work on strategic projects are trustworthy, and will deliver lasting value to their citizens. Discussions were highly practical, focused on advancing real transactions and identifying priority projects that are both bankable and can strengthen, rather than undermine, resilience.

• Why this matters: The Working Group supports participating governments in structuring and procuring infrastructure projects transparently, competitively, and in ways that enable trusted (including U.S.) investment—excluding untrusted PRC-linked entities and advancing shared transatlantic priorities.
• Results:
  • Deepened regional understanding of the nexus between PPPs and national security, especially with regards to critical infrastructure
  • Identified legal, regulatory, and institutional gaps affecting PPP pipelines in Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine; built roadmaps towards implementation on targeted bilateral assistance.
  • Continued progress on a regional roadmap to improve procurement systems and accelerate development of clean, high-standard infrastructure projects.
• CLDP POCs: Zmarak Khan ([email protected]), Sydney Dinenberg ([email protected]), Conor Cunningham ([email protected])