The EU and Water Charges
The EU has a Water Framework Directive which is used to pressurise member states into introducing water charges. The Lisbon Treaty also states that ‘services of general economic interest’ are subject to the laws of competition – meaning, opening up a market to private corporations. If there is a charge for water, these articles can be invoked to open the way to privatisation.
Privatisation of water provision would be a disaster as the experience in Britain shows. Water prices increased and there was a sharp rise in the number of households being disconnected. The situation was so bad that the Daily Mail, a staunch Tory Party supporter, was driven to run a feature in 1994 titled ‘The Great Water Robbery’. In order to prevent this, People Before Profit advocate:
- That the government continues to invoke Article 9(4) of the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), which enables Member States to seek an exemption from domestic water charges.
- Placing an article into the Irish constitution to prevent any future privatisation of water – as recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly.