German Parliament Objects Strongly to ” making water a free merchandise”

Water News in a Nutshell.

 

Germany’s upper house of parliament spoke out strongly in opposition to a European Commission proposal to permit privatization of public water supplies.  The statement emphasized that water should not be considered a commodity like any other.

The statement says: “The Bundesrat attaches great importance to the preservation of the existing structures of municipal responsibility for the drinking water supply. . . . The need to ensure a safe, high- quality and health-safe water supply precludes making water a free merchandise.”  Further, in the Bundesrat’s view, privatizing water supplies could lead to  a “. . .stealthy opening of the water supply for a purely competitive market.”

The European Commission’s statement indicated that it has a “neutral position on the public or private ownership of water resources.”

A citizens’ initiative that wants to prevent the privatization of water in the EU and keep water services in the public sector has collected more than 1.2 million signatures.  More signatures are needed in some of the EU’s 27 member states.