Drawing the scope of contracts, agreements and subsidies

Abstract

Contracts, agreements and grants are three legal tools that are not always easy to distinguish, because they share several elements (same parts, carrying out an activity of general interest and transferring public funds). However, public administrations are not free in choosing the type of tool applicable to a specific case. On the contrary, the aim, rights and obligations of the parties are those that define the nature of the legal tool to be chosen and, therefore, the applicable legal framework, so that the study of these elements allows us to draw the scope of each of them. The article focuses on the analysis of these three legal tools and it draws the scope of each of them, looking for criteria to distinguish them and formulating a series of recommendations to establish, in each case, whether we have a contract, an agreement or a grant.

Keywords:

contract, agreement, grant