Water is a human right, and trade unions were actively involved in building support for the first ever European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). More than 1.8 million Europeans signed up to the demand for European legislation to guarantee access to affordable water supplies.
Two years later, on World Water Day 2016, the trade union-backed Right2Water campaign renewed its call for legislation at EU level to guarantee universal access to clean water and good sanitation.
More than 1 million people in the EU still lack access to safe and clean drinking water and nearly 2% of the EU population does not have access to sanitation. Since 2008, EU austerity policies have encouraged the sell-off of state-owned utilities to profit-making private companies, whereas research shows that public-run services are more accessible, deliver better quality, are more efficient and cheaper to run.