Expansion of his powers Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) V water And wasting provides for a draft law that has been submitted for public discussion. As a “dowry”, the new entity gets the opportunity to interfere in the pricing policy in these sectors by imposing fines of up to 10 million euros.

According to the explanatory note to the bill posted on opengov.grthe expansion of the powers of the RAE “is aimed at closing a significant gap in the current legislation, as for the first time in the field and in the body of regulatory and legal and audit supervision of water supply service providers (water supply and sanitation), as well as in the field of urban waste management. “In fact , as it was said, “the new body should become fully operational within 6 months after its establishment in accordance with the appropriate stage of the Recovery Fund.”

However, the scheme chosen is a structural paradox. If in its current form the RAE is called upon to control the private (energy) market, then the state and the bodies of the broader public sector are under control in the new responsibilities. Thus, it separates (or jointly manages) the responsibilities for price policy control and generally for the implementation of legislation, which currently exist in the services of the Ministry of the Environment (General Directorate of Water Resources and General Secretariat for the Coordination of Waste Management). and expands them as the new body will be able to:

Expanding the powers of the RAE – it will be able to impose fines of up to 10 million euros on municipalities and institutions.

• Propose an association of MUWK (municipal water supply and sanitation enterprises) “taking into account the specifics of each region”. “There is a great fragmentation of water supply services between many providers, some of which cannot systematically control the quality of drinking water, while the operation of treatment plants is often inadequate due to lack of maintenance, poor design (oversized) and lack of personnel,” it says. in a statement. explanatory note. The Authority must submit its proposals by the end of 2024.

• Make recommendations to DEYA, municipal waste management authorities (FODSA) or municipalities, asking them to change their rates and testing their cost effectiveness. In case of non-compliance, it will be able to impose sanctions: up to 10 million euros and 6% of the total annual income for the previous year from controlled services (for example, water supply). Until today, it has not been possible to impose a fine on this matter.

• For those FODSAs that do not meet the goal of reducing landfills, “a fine of €50 per tonne of untreated household waste that ends up in a landfill while there is a recycling plant in their area will be assessed”.

By the same bill, responsibility for oversight of EYDAP and EYATH is transferred from the Ministry of Infrastructure to the Ministry of Environment (this was requested ten years ago), and the responsibility for drawing up watershed management plans is transferred from the regions to decentralized administrations.