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 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
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.
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.
The World Water Forum is the world's largest water policy event, but is it an appropriate platform for discussing solutions to the world's water problems? CEO's Martin Pigeon, together with other water activists, blogged from Istanbul on the discussion taking place.
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A new pan-European coalition of water campaign groups will be launched during the European Social Forum in the Swedish city Malmö to argue the case against privatisation. Including groups from Italy, Germany,France, Spain and Turkey, the European Network for Public Water will push for major changes in EU policies towards water management.
Jan Willem Goudriaan of the European Public Services Union (EPSU), one of the groups involved in initiating the coalition, said:
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Corporate Europe Observatory
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.
