You are invited to join EPSU, colleagues from Belgian unions CGSP and ACV-CSC and representatives of Europe's water movement at our action in front of the European Commission this World Water Day (Tuesday 22 March), where we will call for the human right to water to be implemented once and for all.

Speeches will be given by:

• Lynn Boylan MEP, EP Rapporteur on ECI Right2Water
• Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary
• Union & social movement representatives

Where? pedestrian space in front of the Justus Lipsius Building, Rue de la Loi 175, 1000 Brussels (metro: Bruxelles-Schuman) - 12:00 - 14:00

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Decades of experience has shown that, despite numerous ‘safe use’ programs, the ’safe use’ of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) is not possible. People, farm animals, wildlife and the environment continue to suffer considerable harm from HHPs. After decades of failure which have seen millions of deaths worldwide, new policies are needed to stop pesticide poisonings. A progressive phaseout and ban of HHPs, along with new policies for supporting alternatives, can make a change towards a healthy and sustainable world for all.

We, the undersigned organizations, call on governments and corporations to take concrete steps towards a progressive ban of HHPs and their substitution with eco-system-based alternatives.

Organizational signatories

The European Parliament will vote next week, June 25th, on a report about the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. This is a result of the huge campaign to collect signatures under the European Citizens Initiative tool, that succeeded to gather support from nearly 2 million citizens (more background info below).

This is a non-binding report, but it can be a really strong political signal to force the European Commission to act. The vote will happen in the Environment Committee. In September it will be voted in Plenary.

The draft report is quite good. It can be found, in many languages, here.

During the negotiations and debate in the Parliament, the key controversial points of the report are the exclusion of water from trade agreements, the promotion of Pub-Pub Partnerships vs PPP and the inclusion of the right to water in EU legislation.

Food & Water Europe, together with the European Water Movement, launched an online action today - june 19th, 2015 - to contact the Members of European Parliament. Please distribute and, if you live in Europe, please take action.

http://fweuro.pe/SupportWaterAsAHumanRightToday

The European Water Movement organized several protests and actions last World Water Day in Brussels to put pressure on the European Parliament and the European Commission (see some pictures here). This vote is a key moment in the really long campaign to implement the human right to water in EU legislation.

More updates after the vote. In the meanwhile, we will be tweeting from the following accounts

@euwm<https://twitter.com/euwm>
@FoodWaterEurope<https://twitter.com/FoodWaterEurope>
@right2water<https://twitter.com/right2water>
@EPSUnions<https://twitter.com/EPSUnions>

For a TTIP resolution that puts people, the environment and democracy before short-term profit and disproportionate corporate rights.

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

In light of the European Parliament’s ongoing work on a resolution on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP (also known as Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement or TAFTA), we are writing as an EU-wide coalition of 375 civil society organisations who share a deep concern about the various threats posed by the agreement. We represent a wide range of public interests including environmental protection, public health, civil rights, agriculture, consumer rights and protection of food and farming standards, animal welfare, social and labour standards, workers’ rights, migrant rights, unemployment, youth and women's issues, development, public access to information and digital rights, essential public services including education, integrity of financial systems, and others.

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