Brussels, 24/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Water, a universal human right: Right2water had high hopes for this first-ever citizens' initiative (ECI), which has been loudly hailed by the institutions of the EU as a great democratic step forward, but many observers have commented that, given the limited response of the European Commission, this ECI has been akin to plaiting water (see EUROPE 11042). The Commission said yes, but hides behind the treaties to propose no more than a public consultation on the implementation of the drinking water directive (98/83/EC on the quality of water for human consumption) ahead of its revision, to the great consternation of the citizens who hoped to put the brakes on the liberalisation of something which they feel should never be seen as a simple commodity.
“The communication fails to respond to 1.9 million citizens asking for a legislative provision excluding water and sanitation from internal market rules and liberalisation (…). It boils down to a compilation of already ongoing actions”, laments The European Water Movement. It adds: “Water and sanitation services were excluded from the concession directive thanks to public pressure, but the Commission has not committed in its communication to explicitly exclude the services from the trade negotiations (such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -TTIP - with the United States). The answer of the European Commission to the first ECI (…) will not reassure European citizens who question the democratic legitimacy of the European institutions”.
At the European Parliament, the S&D Group says it expects the European Commission to publish draft legislation to encourage water storage and treatment as an essential and universal public service. Edite Estrela (S&D Portugal) said it was shameful that the Commission was not meeting citizens' expectations, as this sent the wrong signals to people wanting to get involved in building the European project. Sophie Auconie (EPP, France) said the European citizens' initiative was the quintessence of direct democracy and worked to bring the EU closer to its citizens. Unfortunately, however, the Commission did not go any further, she said, on Right2water than simply expressing support for the principle of access to water in Europe and the rest of the world, but she did point out, in defence of the Commission, that water supply and sewerage management are already excluded from the provision of cross-border services and, in 2013, water services were excluded from the directive on public service contracts. (AN)