“Water is a public good, not a commodity!”

Summary

Problems with and struggles against privatization of water services are often linked to the global South, but do occur in Europe too. In 2013 a new social movement (“Right2Water”) stood up that challenged European single market policies and used the tool of a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to “implement the human right to water and sanitation” in European law. It aimed to put an end to privatization of public water services that was promoted by the European Commission. It campaigned across the European Union and achieved 1.9 million signatures, making it the first ever successful ECI. The movement put water on top of the agenda and prevented local and municipal water services from being opened for EU-wide competition. However, results varied greatly per country. To find out how and why the Right2Water movement rose in some countries and stumbled in others, I investigated three national cases: Greece, Spain and The Netherlands, next to an overall study of the struggle in Europe.