Corporate Europe Observatory

Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU

Water Justice

Everybody on our planet has the right to water. CEO's campaign to counter water privatisation and promote alternatives at EU level.

The battle to keep water out of the internal market - a test case for democracy in Europe

March 20, 2013 - 09:32

The concessions directive, which has the stated object of opening markets and eliminating “discrepancies among national regimes”, would end the exemption that has so far existed for drinking water supply and for the first time bring it under the rules of the EU’s single market. Previous attempts to bring water under single market rules failed due to resistance from civil society and MEPs opposed to water becoming a commodity, but this time the European Parliament has been less vigilant.

Reversing the trend: towards public water

March 11, 2013 - 20:05
Be it out of sheer ignorance or because it is serving narrow corporate interests, or both, the European Commission is pushing for water supply privatisation in Europe precisely when the business model that this policy wants to support is dying.

EU Commission forces crisis-hit countries to privatise water

October 17, 2012 - 12:19
The European Commission is deliberately promoting privatization of water services as one of the conditions being imposed as part of bailouts, it has acknowledged in a letter to civil society groups.[1] EU Commissioner Olli Rehn's directorate was responding to questions posed in an open letter concerning the European Commission’s role in imposing privatisation through the Troika in Greece, Portugal and other countries.[2] The civil society groups have today written to Commissioner Rehn to demand that he “refrains from any further pressure to impose water privatisation conditionalities”

Commission urged to stop pushing water privatisation

May 15, 2012 - 16:21
The European Commission has been warned that imposing water privatisation as part of the bail-out packages for struggling EU economies threatens access to water for the poorest and could be in breach of EU legislation, in an open letter to Commissioner Olli Rehn, signed by more than 20 civil society organisations and trade union movements from across the world

Open letter to EU Commission on water privatisation

May 15, 2012 - 11:53
As a member of the 'Troika', the European Commission (with the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank) has been responsible for setting the loan conditions for Greece, Portugal and other countries receiving rescue loans in the context of the sovereign debt crisis. These conditions, which have been widely criticised for the emphasis on cutting public budgets, include in the cases of Greece and Portugal large-scale privatisation of public services, including water utilities. We believe that this privatisation conditionality is unacceptable and seriously undermines the right to water.

Remunicipalisation - Putting water back into public hands

March 10, 2012 - 10:22

Cities worldwide are experiencing the failures of water privatisation. Unequal access, broken promises, environmental hazards and scandalous profit margins are prompting municipalities to take back control of this essential service. This new book from Corporate Europe Observatory, Transnational Institute and the Municipal Services Project examines this growing trend for water ‘remunicipalisation’.

Case studies analyse the transition from private to public water provision in Paris, Dar es Salaam, Buenos Aires and Hamilton, and look at a national-level experiment in Malaysia.

New match-making website for PUPs online

August 26, 2010 - 12:45
Screenshot from the website
This EU-funded website set up by PSIRU helps water utilities, local authorities and civil society organisations identify partners and use EU aid to build not-for-profit water partnerships for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

New Commission's views on water

January 21, 2010 - 12:12
Water flows from the taps of EU citizens mainly thanks to public water companies. The exception is France (and more recently the UK), where private companies have also managed and maintained water and sewage systems. But the new French Commissioner for DG Internal Market, Michel Barnier, suggested all this could perhaps change when he appeared before the European Parliament last week.

Water needs politics, not techno-fixes

May 4, 2009 - 15:22

Sir,

Regarding ‘Veolia calls for shift to ‘low-water economy‘:

EU Water Policies Under Fire

April 9, 2009 - 12:45
Corporate Europe Observatory / Transnational Institute Press Release Immediate release: Thursday 12 March 2009 EU Water Policies Under Fire as World Water Forum Approaches Governments split over recognising right to water The EU’s international water policies will face a double challenge from civil society campaigners and Southern governments when the World Water Forum starts in Istanbul next week (March 16-22) after a disagreement in negotiations in the run up to the Forum on the right to water [1].

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.

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