APPLICATIONOF ADMINISTRATIVELAW TOPRIVATZATIONS legal system. Departing from the viewpoint that government can use private aw to execute public tasks, the important notion is developed over the last decades in both case law and legislation, that when adm inistrative authorities do so, a mix of private and public law is applicable In this respect and not the least for the subject of this paper it is important that e discem between two major fields of private aw I. e contract law in general and the law governing private legal bodies Regarding contract law we have to keep in mind that in Dutch law we do not ve public contract law to speak of For Dutch lawyers a contract is a private contract. Connected with the notion we just mentioned, this does not mean that a govemment contract is governed by public law only On the contrary, when a pu bl authority uses a contract the applicable law is very often a mix of private and public law. Being a flexible instrument a contract very easily absorbs public law. To a great extend one can, so to speak, colour (pre)contractual relations with elements of public law or in another metaphor fill contracts with a public content In this respect the law concerning private legal bodies is different. This has to do with the structure of this part of aw. Law conceming organisations has an intemal structure. It has to deal with the different competences of the different organs of the organisation. In most cases the legal provisions bring about a certan balance of owers. Public rules can easily interfere with this balance and disturb it. Another spect is that a private company has a specific interest, that cannot be equal with the general interest public authorities always have to keep in mind. We will elaborate on that point lateron For now it is sufficient to make clear that law regarding private organisations is vulnera ble for alien influences To use one other metaphor: one can compare contract law with a balloon, it is empty inside, you can fill it with different contents and only when the pressure becomes too high it will burst. Law on organisations you can compare with a honeycomb, it has an nternal structure which can be damaged very easily So, com ing back to our subject, it is probable that there are inherent legal limits the way and extend to which public authorities are allowed to influence private corporations. And that goes also for private corporations executing tasks regarded for the In the following paragraphs we will discuss the possiblities(par 5.2)and the limits(par. 5.)of govermment influence in private hw companies. In par 5. 4 we will give some attention to thethe influence of public law on the output of these companies In par 5.5 we conclude with some conclusions 5.2 Possibilities of government influence in public and private companies In general public authorities with a regulatory competence can exercise influence on public and private companies in two different ways a. by using the instruments of private law. b. by means of specific public law regulation Ad a Strictly the use of prive lw in exercising influence on privatised organisationsAPPLICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW TO PRIVATIZATIONS 7 legal system. Departing from the viewpoint that government can use private law to execute public tasks, the important notion is developed over the last decades in both case law and legislation, that when administrative authorities do so, a mix of private and public law is applicable. In this respect  and not the least for the subject of this paper  it is important that we discern between two major fields of private law. I.e contract law in general and the law governing private legal bodies. Regarding contract law we have to keep in mind that in Dutch law we do not have public contract law to speak of. For Dutch lawyers a contract is a private contract. Connected with the notion we just mentioned, this does not mean that a government contract is governed by public law only. On the contrary,when a public authority uses a contract the applicable law is very often a mix of private and public law. Being a flexible instrument a contract very easily absorbs public law. To a great extend one can, so to speak, colour (pre) contractual relations with elements of public law or in another metaphor fill contracts with a public content. In this respect the law concerning private legal bodies is different. This has to do with the structure of this part of law. Law concerning organisations has an internal structure. It has to deal with the different competences of the different organs of the organisation. In most cases the legal provisions bring about a certain balance of powers. Public rules can easily interfere with this balance and disturb it. Another aspect is that a private company has a specific interest, that cannot be equal with the general interest public authorities always have to keep in mind. We will elaborate on that point later on. For now it is sufficient to make clear that law regarding private organisations is vulnerable for alien influences. To use one other metaphor: one can compare contract law with a balloon, it is empty inside, you can fill it with different contents and only when the pressure becomes too high it will burst. Law on organisations you can compare with a honeycomb, it has an internal structure which can be damaged very easily. So, coming back to our subject, it is problable that there are inherent legal limits to the way and extend to which public authorities are allowed to influence private corporations. And that goes also for private corporations executing tasks regarded important for the general interest. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the possiblities (par 5.2) and the limits (par. 5.3) of government influence in private law companies. In par 5.4 we will give some attention to the the influence of public law on the output of these companies.In par 5.5 we conclude with some conclusions. 5.2 Possibilities of government influence in public and private companies In general public authorities with a regulatory competence can exercise influence on public and private companies in two different ways: a. by using the instruments of private law. b. by means of specific public law regulation Ad.a Strictly the use of prive law in exercising influence on privatised organisations