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The European Commission’s response to proposed legislation, which guarantees water services will not be privatised in the EU, “lacks any real ambition”, according to campaign group Right2Water.
In a communication published yesterday, the European Commission stated the importance of water as a public good and fundamental value and that “water is not a commercial product”.
However, the communication did not address the group’s request for a legal commitment that there would be no EU initiatives to liberalise water and sanitation services.
Right2Water was the first campaigner to reach Brussels via the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), which gives citizens the chance to ask for European legislation, if they can collect one million signatures in support of their plans.
Jan Willem Goudriaan, vice-president of the group, said: “The reaction of the European Commission lacks any real ambition to respond appropriately to the expectations of 1.9 million people.”
Goudriaan also said he regretted that there was no proposal for legislation recognising the human right to water.
Despite this, Right2Water said there were some positive aspects of the response. These included the Commission’s recognition that the provision of water services is generally the responsibility of local authorities.
The group said this confirmed the trend towards remunicipalisation across Europe, which according to the communication is the safest way for water to be kept out of the internal market rules, one of the main demands of the ECI.
The Commission’s Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said: “Europe’s citizens have spoken, and today the Commission gave a positive response. Water quality, infrastructure, sanitation and transparency will all benefit – for people in Europe and in developing countries – as a direct result of this first ever exercise in pan-European, citizen-driven democracy. I congratulate the organisers on their achievement.”
Right2Water also welcomed the commitment of the Commission to promote universal access to water and sanitation in its development policies and to promote public-public partnerships.
The group said it would continue campaigning in the run up to the European elections in May.
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