water this is not a commercial product, the water supply is a public utility, he reminds Scientific Council of the Parliament, in his report on the draft law, which entrusts the RAE with the responsibility for the supervision and control of water supply service providers (water supply and sewerage) and municipal waste management authorities. The Scientific Council refers to the community structure for water policy and the jurisprudence of the Council of Europe and, among other things, emphasizes that “the question arises as to whether and to what extent the powers transferred by this bill to the RAAEY will be consistent with the jurisprudence of the Council of State”.

Thus, according to the report of the Academic Council:

• Directive 2000/60/EC, laying down a framework for community action in the field of water policy, establishes a legislative framework for the proper management and protection of water resources and the prevention of their further degradation. Its preamble states that “water is not a commercial product like all others, but a heritage that needs to be protected and handled properly” and that “water supply is a public service”.
• Pursuant to the provisions of the Directive, a law was passed in 2003 establishing the National Water Commission. The National Water Commission has been abolished by the law presented today at the plenary session.
• The National Water Commission, which develops the policy for the protection and management of water resources, has adopted a decision, provided for by law 3199/2003, on the “Approval of the general rules for determining the cost and billing of water services.” Method and procedure for reimbursement of costs for water supply services for various types of its use. However, the introduction of a unified pricing system for water supply services for various types of its use did not continue. This gap is being filled by today’s bill, which places the supervision and monitoring of water services on an independent body.
• Under the current structure, three components are taken into account when determining the cost of water services: the financial costs of the supplier (including investment, operating, operating costs, borrowing costs, etc.), the environmental costs, consisting in the cost of deviating the state of the waters from their (protected) good state , and the cost of the natural resource (which constitute the cost of the environment), i.e. the cost of other alternative water uses that are needed if the water system is used in excess of its natural replenishment rate.
• “In the light of the foregoing, the question arises as to whether the definitions and procedures for pricing and billing for water services proposed in the articles to be voted on are consistent with the requirement of prior economic analysis, which is a legal condition and justification for a pricing policy based on analysis of the characteristics of a particular area and guided by the “polluter pays” principle, that is, it distributes financial burdens among users of water services based on the consequences of their activities for the state of surface and groundwater, in such a way that, through pricing for relevant services, effectively protect water resources and control excessive consumption water”, reports the Scientific Council of the Parliament and recalls that, according to the CE, when reimbursing the costs, the specific characteristics of each approx. catchment area, prevailing geographical and climatic conditions and data obtained as a result of economic analysis of water use.
• “At the same time, specific rules and procedures are not established to ensure that water supply service providers adapt their pricing policy to the data arising from the approved river basin management plans, and it is also not provided that when approving the tariffs of suppliers by the competent authorities, compliance with the directions set out in the management plans is checked. to ensure that the pricing policy is formulated in accordance with the above requirements of the law and directive, by evaluating social, environmental and economic performance. restoration and the polluter pays principle, notes the Science Council of the Parliament.
• In addition, no specific parameters are specified according to which the level of reimbursement of the cost of water services for various types of use should be determined in accordance with the criteria specified in article 12 of Law 3199/2003.
• According to the CoE, the national policy for the provision of water services, including their pricing, is developed by the Member States as a policy for the provision of public services, with the main criterion being the achievement of the environmental objectives of Directive 2000./60/EC.
• It was agreed that the provisions of the Energy Regulatory Authority Act were provisions dictated by the public interest to develop the energy market and to protect and promote free and healthy competition in this sector for the benefit of consumers. .
• “The question arises whether and to what extent the powers transferred by this bill to the RAAEY are consistent with the jurisprudence of the State Council”, according to which the provision of public services, such as water supply and sewerage, is not an activity inseparable from the core of state power, and can be entrusted to a state enterprise in the form of an anonymous company, such as EYDAP SA, which provides absolutely necessary public services.
• Taking into account the jurisprudence of the Council of Europe, the control of EYDAP SA by the Greek state is provided for by the constitution, not only through the exercise of supervision over it, but also through its share capital. (cf. article 27 of the draft law, “supervision of EYDAPSA and the public law entity EYDAP FIXED COMPANY is transferred to the Ministry of Environment and Energy”).

At the plenary session

The bill is submitted for discussion at the plenary session next Monday. The government stated that the transfer of water to the supervision of the RAE will increase the transparency and rationality of water policy, improve the situation of consumers, by establishing the responsibility of providers of water supply and waste management services, as well as by monitoring the development of investment and pricing policies.

Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas himself said he wants to preserve the public nature of water supply services, as well as drinking water in cities and water for irrigating crops. However, as he stated, today the control is not perfect, and therefore systematic control and supervision of an independent public body is required.

During the drafting of the draft law in the competent parliamentary committee, the Municipal Water Supply and Sanitation Enterprises (MUWSS) indicated that the draft law (Article 11) determined that the Waste, Energy and Water Management Authority (now the RAE) should “exercise control and supervision over the correct implementation of concession agreements for water supply with third parties. “For good reason,” they note, “all self-government bodies have an opinion that, after all, privatization is hidden behind this case.” The Solid Waste Management Agencies (SWMAs) are in much the same mood, asking to be reinforced with permanent staff and to withdraw the bill. The ministry’s assurances about the government’s reluctance to privatize water were questioned by EYDAP and EYATH workers’ representatives, who urged the government to answer “why PPP in Athens’ external water supply” and said they were against subordinating water to a “market regulator”.

Opposition parties condemned the bill as unconstitutional and contrary to the decision of the Council of Europe on water. “Water is not a commercial product that is subject to market regulation,” they stressed.

After the finalization of the draft law in the competent parliamentary committee, the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced that the draft law would be amended, which would be announced during the plenary discussion.

Last week, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas met with a delegation from the Central Association of Hellenic Municipalities (KEDE) of the Union of Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Enterprises (EDEA). As a result of the meeting, a statement was adopted, according to which the state retains all regulatory and administrative powers to implement water policy, including the policy of calculating and billing for water supply and sanitation.

^{Source: RES-IPE}