Kyriakos Nasopoulos
▸The draft of the Ministry of Environment and Energy has been the law of the state since last Tuesday, which prepares the ground for the privatization of water and loosens even more the hands of capital for “green” investments.
With the support of government MPs, the controversial bill of the Ministry of Environment and Energy was passed on Tuesday night (21/3) in the Parliament, which paves the way for the privatization of water as it prepares the ground for the full implementation of the European Directive 2000/60 on the liberalization of its market. Now, the Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) is renamed the Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAAEF), while at the same time its scope is expanded and water and urban waste management services are included in its responsibilities.
This is undoubtedly, despite the categorical denials of the responsible minister Kostas Skrekas, a clear first step in the water privatization process, if we take into account the experience of the Energy Regulatory Authority and the Railway Regulatory Authority. “The establishment of regulatory authorities in social goods is part of the guidelines of the European Union, aims to treat them as a commodity and aims to regulate the market of the good that is “liberated”“, he explains regarding this development, in his announcement, the NAR for Communist Liberation.
It is worth noting that even the Scientific Committee of the Parliament pointed out to the ministry that the transfer of regulatory responsibilities for water to the RAE is once morest the national and community legislation and the jurisprudence of the Council of State (1904/2014, 190/2022, 191/2022 ).
One day before the parliamentary “yes” to the bill, on Monday 20/3, thousands of citizens had shouted to the Constitution a big “no” to the privatization of water and the further destruction of the environment at the mercy of “green investments”, responding to the call of the labor unions in EYDAP as well as other collectives and labor forms. Similar mass mobilizations took place in other cities of the country.
As far as the parliamentary process is concerned, the government tried to entertain the “impressions” with small last-minute changes to the final text of the bill. On the issue of water, the ministry made a small amendment regarding RAE’s responsibilities, trying in vain to convince that it is not promoting privatization. In particular, in the reference that RAE can control concession contracts for water services to third parties, the word “third parties” was replaced by the expression “between water providers”.
In the other scandalous part of the bill, regarding “green” development and Renewable Energy Sources (RES), there remained a series of regulations in violation of any environmental protection. After the general outcry, photographic provisions for the expansion of settlements and the designation of public roads were withdrawn, as were some provisions for Natura areas. Among other things, they “froze” – for the moment at least – special provisions for “sub-zones”, change in land uses, inclusion in the special environmental studies of the “real” urban planning and economic conditions, etc. At the same time, the possibility of extending “temporary” measures to protect a Natura area (until the special environmental study is completed) was foreseen for up to four years.
«The consequences of water privatization will be incalculable. Privatization means poorer quality and more expensive water. This is the experience of privatizations around the world. That is why movements are being born everywhere that claim – and win – water back into public control. {…} We say to them “Keep your hands out of our water”. The thread that connects all races is one. Transportation, electricity, water, all are public goods and we will defend them in every way. Public enterprises with worker control. To travel and reach our destinations. So that we don’t cut from the food to pay the electricity. To drink clean cheap water“, she emphasizes MUTINY.
«The people have tragically become more aware of what they are shouting at the grand demonstrations regarding crime in Tempe: Privatization kills. It (the government) cannot and will not hand over to profiteers, the water, the present and the future of life. Where water has been privatized, such as the “water code” in force in Chile since the Pinochet junta period, every drop of water has an owner, it is not a common good“, the comment over 30 anti-capitalist movements of municipalities and regions.
NAR: Water will not become a commodity
As noted by NARthe government’s goal, even a few weeks before the elections, is “accelerate the implementation of the EU’s “green and digital transition” policy, promote the further commercialization of energy, the environment, waste management and water, once once more degrading environmental protection and intensifying urban chaos». At the same time, however, it clarifies, from the point of view of popular needs and interests, that “water cannot and will not be allowed to become a commodity».
After the passing of the bill, the movement to defend the public character of water should be massive in the near future. With key requests among others: a) Public the entire cycle of water and urban waste management to serve people’s needs, with environmental protection and social-labor control, b) financial support of the DEYAs that accumulated debts of more than 120 million euros due to excessive energy costs and c) drastic reduction in household tariffs and tariffs of poor rural households.
