ABSTRACT

In 2012 public service trade unions and water activists started a European Citizens’ Initiative to get the human right to water implemented in European law. It became the start of the “Right2Water” movement that successfully defended drinking water supply in the European Union against European Commission plans for liberalisation, marketisation and the subsequent threat of privatisation. In countries with a good functioning public water system, resistance against privatisation of water was high, especially in Germany, Austria and Belgium, but surprisingly this level of resistance was absent in the Netherlands, which has a similarly good and well-known public water supply system. In this article we interview two persons that have both experience in European as well as in the Netherlands’ water policies and legislation, and in water services provision. We investigate how the right to water is defined, legally decreed and socially interpreted and defended at different levels. We also investigate the apparent paradox with regards to water in the Netherlands, where people seemed very committed to and proud of their public water management, but did not stand up against a privatisation threat, whereas around the globe water privatisation plans are met with great resistance.

摘要

2012 年，公共服务工会和水资源活动家发起了一项欧洲公民倡议，以在欧洲法律中实施用水人权。它成为“Right2Water”运动的开始，该运动成功地捍卫了欧盟的饮用水供应，反对欧盟委员会的自由化、市场化计划和随后的私有化威胁。在公共供水系统运作良好的国家，对水私有化的抵制很高，尤其是在德国、奥地利和比利时，但令人惊讶的是，荷兰没有这种抵制水平，荷兰拥有同样良好和知名的公共供水系统。在这篇文章中，我们采访了两位在欧洲和荷兰的水政策和立法方面都有经验的人，和提供水服务。我们调查水权是如何在不同层次上定义、法律规定以及社会解释和捍卫的。我们还调查了荷兰水资源方面的明显悖论，那里的人们似乎非常致力于公共水资源管理并为之感到自豪，但并未抵抗私有化威胁，而在全球范围内，水资源私有化计划遇到了巨大阻力.