Over 150 organizations (trade unions, water-users’, environmental, humanitarian and altermondialist associations, NGOs from thirty different countries and international networks), in addition to hundreds of people, have already signed the declaration of the participants issued at the conclusion of the Alternative World Water Forum. Please share its ideas, make the declaration widely known, sign it and get others to sign it, so that the current in favour of water as a commons can become overpoweringly strong!
Campaign started in 6 cities in Germany
Ver.di, the German public service trade union has officially started the campaign ‘Wasser ist ein Menschenrecht’ in Leipzig. Over 130 trade unionists and members of supporting organisation joined the fountain event on 21 June and collected signatures. In Germany the campaign is carried out by a coalition of groups that in the past already campaigned for public control over water and good, safe and affordable water services for all. In five other cities people promoted the campaign and collected signatures: Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Augsburg and Munich. The German groups have set a national target of 150.000 signatures, this way providing for 15% of the total number of signatures needed in Europe!
Agreement reached to sell Veolia’s regulated water business in the UK
First significant step of the €5 billion asset divestment program before end 2013
Net debt reduction of € 1.450bn
Paris, 28 June 2012. Today, Veolia Environnement’s wholly owned subsidiary, Veolia Water UK PLC, has agreed to sell the UK regulated water activities of Veolia Environnement to Rift Acquisitions Limited(a) for a total transaction value of £1,236 million(b).
Following completion of this transaction, Veolia Environnement’s net debt will be reduced by around £1,165million(c) (€1,450(d)million) as a consequence of the sale. Veolia Environnement will retain, in addition to its non regulated water business, an interest in the UK regulated water business through Veolia Water UK’s retained 10% equity interest in the divested business for a period of at least 5 years.
Water Justice Activists Demand Action 2nd Anniversary UN Human Right to Water Resolution
July 28, 2012 marks the two-year anniversary of the historic United Nations General Assembly resolution recognizing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.
As members of the global water justice movement we are deeply concerned to see little progress being made towards the full implementation of this right as governments aggressively pursue false solutions to the environmental and economic crises that will only deepen the water injustices that our organizations and communities have been fighting for decades.
Arrest of Marco Arana
Marco Arana, the leader of the movement against CONGA (a giant mining project which is threatening to drain the lakes supplying groundwater in the region of Cajamarca) was arrested on 4th July.
The “CONGA no Va” movement was presented in a “Right to Water” workshop session at FAME (Françoise Chambeu) and in a “Water and Extractivism” workshop (Raquel Neyra).
Open letter calling for confirmation of public legal status of the ABC water services company of Naples
From European Water Movement
To Municipality of Naples, to the attention of the Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and the City Council
To Region of Campania, to the attention of the President Roberto Fico
Subject – Call of the European Water Movement: confirm Acqua Bene Comune di Napoli as Special Company under public law and proceed immediately to the renewal of the concession of water and sanitation services
Dear Municipality of Naples
Dear Region of Campania
with this open letter we, the European Water Movement, European movement founded in your city in 2011, following the successful referendum held in Italy on public water, intend to express our dismay at the envisaged hypothesis of transforming Acqua Bene Comune Napoli (ABC) from special company under public law into stock company under private law.
First of all, we remind that both the EU and Italian regulatory frameworks absolutely do not prohibit the existence of special companies under public law, and a fortiori do not prohibit the renewal for such companies of concessions already in place. For example, the 'régie à autonomie financiaire et personnalité morale' is the French equivalent of the Italian special company under public law, and more and more French municipalities choose this kind of public entity instead of private companies for managing their water and sanitation services and confirm their choice after each municipal election.
That premised, we don’t see any justification for modifying the legal status of ABC, given the more than satisfactory operational results, both economically and in terms of quality of services, with a valid participation as by statute of citizens and workers, with results surely better, compared with so many companies under private law, whether under private, public or mixed property. For example, results in terms of price and quality of service by the 'régies' in Paris, Montpellier, Lyon etc. are better than those of equivalent water private companies.
Moreover, the confirmation of the legal status of special company makes it possible to proceed immediately to the concession for the next thirty years, by assuring in this way a guarantee to maintain in the mid and long term its nature of public good not subject to commodification and to the risk of conditioning by private interests, surely stronger than under its transformation into a stock company under private law, even in case of maintenance of 100% public property. In fact, legal status of a stock company under private law cannot assure in the mid and long term the maintenance of a government totally public and participative, compared to what can be guaranteed by a special company under public law.
Therefore, confirm ABC as special company under public law and proceed immediately to the renewal of the concession, also in respect of the will expressed in the referendum held in Italy in 2011 and of the principles enshrined by the many movements in Italy, in Europe and in the World, striving for a public and participative government not subject to commodification and privatization, and adopted by the European Water Movement since its foundation.
Best regards
Co-signatories:
Berliner Wassertisch (Berlin Water Table)
Coordination Eau Île-de-France
Eau Secours 34
Enginyeria Sense Fronteres (Engineering Without Borders)
European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
Forum Italiano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua
Naturefriends Greece
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