Running Dry: Protecting the Right to Water in Europe

The report examines the failures of water privatisation in Europe, citing infrastructure decay and high profits in the UK and France, while highlighting successful re-municipalisation in Paris and public resistance in Greece, Ireland, and Italy. It advocates for public ownership and cross-border cooperation to manage water as a public security issue and a public good, rather than a commodity, to effectively adapt to climate change.

• Water privatisation in England and Wales, beginning in 1989, created 'permanent regulated monopolies' that prioritised shareholder profits over infrastructure investment. This led to significant water losses, such as Thames Water losing an estimated 600 million litres per day, and unacceptable levels of sewage pollution.
• France's history of water privatisation through public-private partnerships allowed a few companies to maintain monopolies with high profits. However, re-municipalisation in cities like Paris (via Eau de Paris in 2010) resulted in an 8 per cent reduction in water prices, improved affordability for vulnerable groups, and enhanced democratic governance.
• Public resistance successfully blocked debt-driven privatisation attempts in several European countries: a 2014 referendum in Greece saw 98 per cent of 218,000 voters reject the privatisation of EYATH; Italy's 2011 referendum saw over 55 per cent oppose privatisation; and civil disobedience in Ireland led to the 2016 suspension of water charges.
• The Right2Water European Citizens’ Initiative, which collected 1.9 million signatures, pressured the European Commission to recognise water as a public good and exclude it from the 2014 Concession Directive, although this has not yet led to widespread de-privatisation policies.
• Private water ownership is deemed incompatible with climate resilience because private companies lack the accountability to prioritise public needs over dividends. Between 1991 and 2019, private water companies in England paid 57 billion pounds in dividends while amassing over 48 billion pounds in debt.
• Public ownership is argued to be superior for crisis management, as it allows for easier implementation of water restrictions during droughts and prevents price spikes. In the summer of 2022, some private UK providers refused to implement hosepipe bans despite a national emergency because they had no legal obligation to do so.
• Building resilience requires large-scale water retention initiatives and cross-border cooperation, exemplified by the Czech movement Živá Voda. Such efforts to restore the 'small water cycle' should be integrated into the EU Adaptation Strategy.

APA

Vrba, M. (2022). Running Dry: Protecting the Right to Water in Europe. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/running-dry-protecting-the-right-to-water-in-europe/

Chicago

Vrba, Martin. Running Dry: Protecting the Right to Water in Europe. Green European Journal, 2022. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/running-dry-protecting-the-right-to-water-in-europe/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vrba |first1=Martin |title=Running Dry: Protecting the Right to Water in Europe |publisher=Green European Journal |date=30 November 2022 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/running-dry-protecting-the-right-to-water-in-europe/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vrba2022running, author = {Vrba, Martin}, title = {{Running Dry: Protecting the Right to Water in Europe}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/running-dry-protecting-the-right-to-water-in-europe/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }