Right2Water campaign: “Commission lacks ambition in replying to first European Citizens’ Initiative”

On March 19 the Commission  published a Communication that gave its official response to the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which called on the EC “to implement the human right to water and sanitation in European law.” The "Right2Water" campaign seeks to secure universal access to clean water and sanitation and opposes the liberalisation of water services. Social Platform has supported this campaign together with other partners at EU and national level.

After the launch of the publication the campaign issued a press release highlighting that the Commission lacked ambition its response to the first ECI. In the Communication, the European Commission recalled the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and states the importance of water as a public good and fundamental value and that “water is not a commercial product.” However, that’s as far as it goes. “The reaction of the European Commission lacks any real ambition to respond appropriately to the expectations of 1.9 million people” says Jan Willem Goudriaan, vice-president www.right2water.eu. “I regret that there is no proposal for legislation recognising the human right to water.”

The ECI also asked for a legal commitment that there would be no EU initiatives to liberalise water and sanitation services. But there is nothing in the Communication on this.