EU water policy under fire in developing world

The European Commission’s promotion of privatisation to tackle global water problems has been rejected by 45 civil society and labour organisations from around the world, which favour increased public-sector involvement.

In advance of World Water Day (22 March 2007), the World Development Movement (WDM) has released a report which says that public water provision, and not increased privatisation as advocated by the Commission, is key to solving the “global water crisis”. 

UN figures show that 1.2 billion people around the world, mainly in Africa and other poor regions, are without access to safe drinking water and the crisis is expected to rapidly deteriorate. The EU’s response has been the EU Water Initiative  which was presented at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg (2002). 

However, the coalition says that the Commission should stop using EU aid money to facilitate private-sector involvement in water and sanitation services in poor countries and drop requests for market access in the area of water services within international trade talks. Instead, the coalition calls for increased public investment in the water and sanitation sector, backed up by “support for the development of strong public utilities in the global South through ‘public-public partnerships”.

“The failed privatisation projects in many places from Bolivia to the Philippines show that private is not necessarily better than public. Donors like the European Commission should recognise that 90% of the water supply worldwide is still operated and managed by public water utilities. In the global South, there is much evidence that it is possible to improve public water delivery and that their weaknesses and deficiencies are not terminal,” said Mary Ann Manahan, a researcher with Focus on the Global South.

WDM Director Benedict Southworth, referrering to the recent WDM report. said that in countries ranging from Brazil to Uganda: “Public providers are delivering clean water to poor communities, while operating in a way that is accountable and transparent to the people they serve. The question is, are donors listening?” 

Meanwhile, the Commission plans to organise a conference on World Water Day to assess the progress of the Water Framework Directive  – the main piece of legislation for water policy within the EU – and discuss further challenges.

In advance of the conference, the WWF called on the EU to: “Step up their efforts and ambitions in implementing this groundbreaking EU law, creating a situation where we are less wasteful of our water, the water we use is priced fairly, those who pollute it are made to pay and waste is properly treated rather than washed straight into waterways.”

Read more with Euractiv

EU ministers commit to 20% emissions cuts by 2020

Environment Ministers have committed to achieve "at least a 20% reduction" in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, but failed to agree on how to share the burden between the 27-nation bloc.