Press Releases

EYATH Employees: "The struggle starts now!"

Immediate was the response of the employees union of EYATH after yesterday’s announcement by Mr Athanasopoulos of TAIPED of the sale of 51 percent of EYATH till October 2013.We remind here, that from 1999 until today during the semi-privatization of the company, the number of employees decreased from 700 to 265 while for a 2,330 km network and 510,000 water meters the company employs 11 plumbers!. As for the invoices there were increases of up to 300 percent.

Letter to Merkel against Water Privatization

The European Crisis will be exacerbated by a privatisation of public services.

Dear Chancellor,

With great concern and support for the common project of a united Europe, we do not only follow the Euro-crisis but also the austerity conditionalities imposed by the EU, ECB and IMF on countries such as Greece. In particular, the commissioned privatisation of public goods, amongst them the water services, will not be favourable to the reconciliation of the Greek economy and will at best lead to a short-term decrease of debts. This is contrasted by the sell-off of core elements of public services which, with good reason, both in our constitution and in several EU treaties is given a high status. The federal government has stressed this elevated status of (German) water services in opposition to the European Commission’s strive towards liberalisation and privatisation more than once.

EU Commission Forces Crisis-hit Countries to Privatise Water

Brussels, 17th October 2012 – The European Commission is deliberately promoting privatization of water services as one of the conditions being imposed as part of bailouts, it acknowledged in a letter to civil society groups on 26 September 2012.[1] EU Commissioner Olli Rehn's directorate was responding to questions posed in an open letter concerning the European Commission’s role in imposing privatisation through the Troika in Greece, Portugal and other countries.[2] The civil society groups have today written to Commissioner Rehn to demand that he stop “any further pressure to impose water privatisation conditionalities”.[3]