Austerity is Being Used to Leverage Water Company Sell-Off Across the EU - People will Suffer

[C. Flower]

Portugal is being forced as part of the EU programme to sell of its public water services. This is nothing new for the US dominated IMF. Spain and Greece are also apparently under pressure. There is no evidence that the private sector is more efficient and public pressure has in some cases forced renationalisation of privatised water resources.

The Commission denies pressure.

A European Commission lawyer familiar with the bailout provisions denied that the EU executive was stepping beyond its authority. The lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the financial talks, said decisions on the sale of water utilities and other public assets were made by national, not European, officials.

But the Commission lawyer acknowledged that it was a cumbersome political issue, noting that at one point in 2010, the sale of stakes in the Thessaloniki and Athens water companies was blocked when Greece’s Socialists reversed the previous conservative government’s privatisation deal.

Supporters of public water companies include the utilities themselves, trade unions, consumer groups, environmentalists and human rights activists who insist that water is a public asset. They have used a variety of tactics to defend their turf.

In May 2011, a coalition of activist groups and public suppliers pressed Commission Vice President Olli Rehn, who oversees economic affairs, to back off the water privatisation as a condition for aid. João Ferreira, a Portuguese MEP from the European United Left group, earlier this year urged fellow lawmakers to halt the trend in his country and others, claiming that “untamed privatisation will lead to a disaster.”

In March, trade unions and environmentalists opposed to the sale of Spanish, Portuguese and Greek utilities organised an alternative to the World Water Forum in Marseille, claiming the meeting was dominated by corporate interests. The protest event, known by its French acronym FAME, or Forum Alternatif Mondial de l’Eau, billed itself as offering a “democratic” choice to the other Marseille gathering.

At the previous water forum in Istanbul in 2009, police battled protestors opposing private management of water utilities.

FAME organisers also backed a European Citizens Initiative on water and sanitation rights to pressure the European Union to halt the liberalisation of water works.

Millions invested in private companies

Hall urged the EU to reconsider its support for privatisation. He and colleagues at the Public Services International Research Unit published a report in August noting that despite the promoted advantages of private operations, many end up tapping the public purse for financing and investment.

[MediaBite]

Stiglitz talks about how this was planned for and deliberately foisted on governments all around the world at US behest, initially. (Globalisation and its discontents).

Media silence and/or complicity is a huge factor in why there is so little protest/awareness about this.

[Dr. FIVE]

Media silence and/or complicity is a huge factor in why there is so little protest/awareness about this.

..and of course the Labour party, where the most their Ministers can manage is weasel words about 'well it wont be privatised on our watch'. They know full well that once water becomes a market, EU competition law kicks in. The press have done nothing to inform people about the history of the IMF 'aid' around the world. While at the same time we have one of it's biggest owners taking over companies that stand to reap huge benefits.


From the memorandum of understanding.

In advance of the introduction of water charges

- The government will have undertaken an independent assessment of transfer of responsibility for water services provision from local authorities to a water utility, and prepare proposals for implementation, as appropriate with a view to start charging in 2012/2013.

A handy single entity that can be sold off and stripped.

[Dr. FIVE]

Much more then 'customers' stand to lose out if you look at the mountain of stuff online about the IMF & water.

[C. Flower]

Much more then 'customers' stand to lose out if you look at the mountain of stuff online about the IMF & water.

Well - you are right. "Customers" is a loaded term. I'm tempted to change the thread title. "People" would do.

[Dr. FIVE]

There's the Labour taking the first steps towards privatising the water supply