[box] EPSU‘s (European Public Services Union) Press Release for World Water Day presents the mobilizations across Europe and the efforts made to collect more signatures for the European Citizens Initiative. [/box]
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Press communication – 21 March 2013
Hundreds of activists will be collecting signatures for the right to water European Citizens Initiative in many countries in the EU on the occasion of World Water Day. More than 1 million citizens have already signed. The right2water initiative demands that water and sanitation are declared a human right in the EU.
Campaigners across the world will also be participating in the “International Year of Water Cooperation”, demanding that the human right to water and sanitation is guaranteed in their countries. Action is needed to ensure it is implemented so that the hundreds of millions who lack access to these services can enjoy safe and clean drinking water and effective sanitation.
The right2water initiative also expresses its opposition to EU liberalization of water and sanitation services. Many citizens who have signed up are expressing their anger over continued attempts to privatise water services in their communities, cities and countries. The right2water initiative has opened a real public debate about the management of water services, how public services are run and what kind of role the EU has in this area. The people of Europe are sending a strong signal to EU politicians. With over 1,3 million signatures supporting the ECI, this year’s World Water Day is a celebration of the involvement, participation and activism of EU citizens. Their message to say “Our water is not for Sale” is about putting democracy before corporate interests.
Five countries have already passed the minimum threshold required by the ECI regulations (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Slovakia and Slovenia). Several other countries are close to the minimum, including Finland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Cyprus, Greece. In the week leading up to World Water Day hundreds of activities are taking place across the EU. Union members, activists of other supporting groups and many citizens are collecting signatures and discussing the importance of the initiative. We thank everyone for their contribution. We can be confident that the initiative will be a success with continued mobilisation in countries like Italy, Spain and many others. And furthermore, many local authorities have adopted cross-party resolutions to support the right2water initiative.
Public Services International, the global arm of Europe’s public service trade unions, coordinates actions across the world and together with many other organisations have been urging that water and sanitation are part of the so-called global commons and need to be run for the common good. Privatisation of water services is widely seen as a threat to the human right to water. And across the EU local and national groups are standing up to defend their water services against privatisation. On this year’s World Water Day we pay tribute to their struggle.
For more information on the European Citizens Initiative: www.right2water.eu
EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 275 trade unions; EPSU organizes workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration, in all European countries including in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. EPSU is the recognized regional organization of Public Services International (PSI).
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]]>[box] Success for the ECI (European Citizens Initiative) on affordable and non-privatized access to clean water. This legislative initiative, an institution which was adopted at the Treaty of Lisbon, is the first successful attempt to collect among the European citizens 1,000,000 official signatures, (with passport number or ID), so as to call on the European Commission to initiate a legislative process. (Before of the implementation of ECI, only the commission had the right to initiate legislation at the European Parliament.) [/box]
[box]Perhaps now, that the Europeans have spoken up and declared, despite the technical and legal setbacks, that they do not want the water market creation and commercialization of their precious resource, the unelected Commissioners Barnier and Oli Rehn will begin to listen also to civil society apart from their friends of the Steering Group, consisting of executives of water corporations. Unless they regard themselves, emperors.[/box]
[box type=”warning”] Although the 1,000,000 signatures were collected, apparently they are supposed to consist of a minimum of signatures from 7 different countries… Greece has yet to catch this minimum which in our case is 16,500. Many have contacted us because they were not able to sign electronically. We alerted the organizers of the European Citizens Initiative about this so as to urge the EU In order to solve the technical problems since the software used for the process is theirs… As if it were not enough that civil society is required to run such an expensive and intricate in legal proceedings, procedure, they make whatever humanly possible to complicate it further.. Another reason for us to skyrocket signatures from Greece.[/box]
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EPSU Press communication
11 February 2013
“One million signatures for Water as a Human Right !”
(Brussels, 11 February)
Yesterday, the first up and running European Citizens Initiative (ECI) ‘Water is a Human Right’ made history as also being the first ECI in the history of the European Union to have collected over 1 million signatures.
Anne-Marie Perret, President of the Citizens Committee says “Reaching this important milestone, with one Million EU citizens agreeing that water and sanitation are human rights, is a great success. We appreciate the support of so many and will continue campaigning to pass a strong message to the European Commission. We have also managed to overcome the start up problems, as well as the legal and technical barriers forced upon us by the European Commission and Member States.”
The ECI “Water is a Human Right” has been a success not just because more than 1 million people have signed but in terms of creating a real European debate. 2013 is the European Year of citizenship and we have manage to get more than 1.5 million visits to our website the month of January only. It has contributed to creating a space for a European debate in which many citizens are engaging.
The ECI will continue to collect signatures to ensure that the voices of as many people in as many different countries as possible are heard. On March 22rd we will celebrate World Water Day with well over a million voices against liberalization of water, and for the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation in the EU.
For more information: Pablo Sanchez, [email protected] 0032 (0) 474 62 66 33
EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 275 trade unions; EPSU organizes workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration, in all European countries including in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. EPSU is the recognized regional organization of Public Services International (PSI).
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[box type=”info”] The legal basis of the citizens’ initiative is set out in Article 11, Paragraph 4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 24, paragraph 1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Both articles were newly introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon.[/box]
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]]>In the “neighborhood” countries outside of the EU, water privatization is still promoted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – the private sector support division of the World Bank – despite the failures that have already happened under this policy.
EPSU is therefore publishing this booklet setting out the reasons for rejecting water privatization, in a number of languages. It has been prepared by the PSIRU at the University of Greenwich, based on empirical evidence, with references. It is intended not only to support campaigns against water privatization, but also as a reminder why the public sector is a much better way of providing water services.
The UN in 2010 declared water and sanitation as human right. It obliges governments to provide their citizens with accessible, affordable, safe and clean water and sanitation. The European public services unions will launch a “European Citizens’ Initiative” to promote the implementation of this human right and oppose the liberalization of water services at EU level.
Jan Willem Goudriaan
EPSU Deputy General Secretary