With many actions and including civil disobedience, the Italian organizations that form the Italian Water Movement forced the Italian government of former European Commissioner Mario Monti to withdraw a proposal to liberalise water services 19 January 2012. The Italian people spoke out in large majority (>90%) against the liberalization and privatisation of the water services in June 2011.
However the European Central Bank demanded that Italy do exactly that and have a “comprehensive, (...)

(18 January 2012) The Italian water movement achieved a great victory in June 2011 when millions of Italians said no to the liberalization and privatisation of water services. The European Central Bank however has sought to reverse this decisions in a secret letter to the Italian government in July 2011. In this letter the then President Trichet advised: “A comprehensive, far-reaching and credible reform strategy, including the full liberalisation of local public services and of (...)

(10 December 2011) On the occasion of Human Rights Day EPSU calls for attention to the implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.
In 2010 this right was recognised in the United Nations General Assembly. Although many European countries abstained in the final vote, the right is being recognised in most of the EU. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation entitles everyone to accessible, affordable and sufficient water and sanitation that meets the international standards for (...)

28 July is a memorable day. Today is the first anniversary of the recognition by the UN of water and sanitation as a human right. However, 1 billion people still do not have access to clean drinking water and 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation. The UN resolution is a first step towards solving this problem.
The recognition of water and sanitation as a human right does not automatically increase the number of people with access to safe, clean and affordable water and sanitation. (...)

Brussels 28 July 2011 – Civil society organisations, collectives and trade unions [1] gather around public water fountains today in Brussels to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution on the human right to water.
2011 has been an important year for public water in Europe, increased citizen participation has played a major role in the issues of water supply management and wastewater treatment, allowing populations to take a giant step toward (...)

(13 July 2011) Our colleagues from STAL in Portugal have sent out a declaration to stop privatisation of water, in particular the water company Aguas do Portugal (AdP); in Portugal the largest water company servicing 8 million people and employing over 5000 workers.
In their declaration they criticize government, saying the privatisation policy will not only lead to loss of revenue for the public authorities, which now control AdP, but it will also lead to loss of public control over this (...)

(4 July 2011) The recent referendums in Italy proved that a coalition of the willing can change things for the better anywhere, argues Rosa Pavanelli
On June 14, Italy woke up with the news that for the first time a referendum had reached the legal quorum to be binding. This is, in itself, a big step forward for Italian democracy - but the news that the turnout was around 56 per cent and that more than 95 per cent of people voted against water privatisation - and for public services - shows (...)

EPSU Press Communication – 14 June 2011
The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) welcomes the magnificent result of the referendum that took place in Italy on 12 and 13 June.
More than 55% of Italians voted in the Referendum against the privatisation of water and local public services. Over 95% of those that voted said yes to public water! This means that more than 26 million people have expressed their opposition to the privatisation plans, despite the fact that Berlusconi (...)

(9 June 2011) This is an outline of a recent article in La Reppublica. Sunday the Italians may vote in a referendum against privatization of water. We encourage all Italians in Europe to vote!
Costs, leaks, efficiency: the fake myths of private water First myth is that public water pipelines are leaking a lot. wrong: the worst leaking pipeline is the one in Rome, managed by Acea, a private S.p.A. (società per azioni) in the stock exchange, owned by Rome municipality, Caltagirone (one of the (...)

(24 May 2011) On 12-13 June, Italians will be called to vote in a national referendum consisting of four demands – two on whether or not to allow water privatisation, one on whether or not to allow new nuclear energy development and one on whether or not there should be legal impunity for Berlusconi and his top officials.
EPSU and PSI request your urgent assistance to help overturn plans for water privatisation in Italy to spread this message encouraging expatriate Italians to vote in (...)