Drinking Water for All | How to Implement Affordability and Public Participation Mechanisms in the European Union?

Brussels (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Publication of the Thomas More Institute Report
- Thursday, February 13th, 2014 on http://www.institut-thomas-more.org

The European Union is debating on the question of implementation
of access to drinking water and sanitation as a human right. On next
17 February, the topic will be discussed in the first hearing at the
European Parliament in the framework of a European Citizens'
Initiative (ECI). In EU countries, the most common challenge with
respect to this issue is related to the affordability of water bills.
Low-income households may find it difficult to pay their bills. Large
families may be adversely impacted by tariff structures that make
water more expensive to large consumers.

If the European Union seriously wants to declare safe drinking
water and sanitation as a human right, it can only be done by taking
into account these challenges. However, the recent debate has been
driven by arguments for and against private sector participation,
rather than by affordability issues. This dispute too often driven by
ideological considerations does not help to reconcile the somehow
antagonistic goals of providing cost-effective, high quality access
to water wile taking into account environmental and affordability
issues.

The Thomas More Institute Report argues that the success on
recognising water as a human right in the EU does not depend on the
legal form of the operating entity - as both public and private
bodies have a long history of practice. It rather draws the attention
to intelligent and locally-adapted solutions that have been
implemented in the EU to tackle affordability issues. Resolving
affordability challenges implies that cost-effective public services
keep the overall cost as low as possible and at the same time provide
specific aid mechanisms that target those water-users that have real
difficulties to pay water bills. In Europe, public and private water
operators have shown their capacity to propose and implement
intelligent and locally-adapted solutions to these affordability
challenges.

To find adapted solutions for affordability challenges, all
stakeholders have to participate in the process: governments and
municipalities, their employees, as well as the representatives of
the civil society such as consumer associations and NGOs.

High quality water is only good if everyone can pay for it. And
only if everyone can, it deserves the status of a human right.

Jean-Thomas LESUEUR, délégué général de l'Institut Thomas More |
jth.lesueur@institut-thomas-more.org | Tel : +33(0)1-49-49-03-30 |
Fax : +33(0)1-49-49-03-33

ots Originaltext: Institut Thomas More
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