Water scarcity is causing serious problems in many parts of Greece

Subject: Water scarcity is causing serious problems in many parts of Greece

Ordinary working families, farmers working hard to earn a living and small-scale businesses owners who are experiencing the plight of water scarcity are facing serious problems, particularly in the Ionian islands, in Messinia, Thessaly, Thrace, Crete, etc.

Water cuts last for hours, water pressure is frequently low and there are often warnings about reduced water supply and a decreased availability of water for irrigation.

Local inhabitants and professionals have to dig deep into their pockets, either to buy bottled water, with the business groups that produce this water making a fortune, or to have water tanks installed or to secure water wagons, which is expensive.

The Government and the EU point the finger at ‘climate change’. However, the real causes are to be found in the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), which was reviewed in 2023 and set the framework for the commodification of water.

In view of this:

1. What is the Commission’s position concerning the fact that, based on the above directive and the policy of New Democracy and of all the governments before it, water resources are increasingly being turned into a commodity and placed in the hands of business groups, to the detriment of ordinary households, either with ‘State’ control being retained and public-private partnerships being widely used or with these partnerships being turned into ‘limited liability companies’?

2. What is it’s position concerning the fact that, based on certain terms of the Recovery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and other EU funds, the infrastructure, grid and protection works required to ensure water availability and improved service quality are not a priority unless the big business groups can generate a profit, which is what is creating this unacceptable situation?

Submitted: 5.8.2024

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission (15 October 2024)

1. Neither the Water Framework Directive (1), the Drinking Water Directive (2) nor the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (3) establishes whether the management and supply of water should be done by the public administration or by private entities. Moreover, Article 12 of Directive 2014/23 (4) explicitly excludes the water sector from its scope, leaving the organisation and governance of water services a matter of national competence.

2. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU funding including for water infrastructures. Cohesion Policy (5) supports Greece with more than EUR 1 billion to modernise infrastructures including water transportation and wastewater treatment plants. For instance, in November 2022 Greece received EUR 21.1 million from the Cohesion Policy Funds (6) for upgrading its water infrastructures. Moreover, the European Regional Development Fund (7) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (8) also co-fund measures in Greece to improve regional water infrastructures. Importantly, the selection of projects under all these funds remains ultimately the responsibility of each Member State. Within Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) (9), a water regulatory authority has been established with the aim to strengthen the institutional framework, supervise the water sector and ensure the sustainability of water services, while Greece benefits from RRP funding for water supply and water saving infrastructures. Greece also participates in several research and innovation projects of Horizon Europe (10) for water resilience like ‘Water Security for the Planet’ (11), ‘PRIMA’ (12) and ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (13).

1 ∙ ⸱ Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water

policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1-73, as amended by Commission Directive 2014/101/EU of 30 October 2014, OJ L 311, 31.10.2014, p. 32-35. 2 ∙ ⸱ Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast), OJ L 435, 23.12.2020, p. 1-62. 3 ∙ ⸱

Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment, OJ L 135, 30.5.1991, p. 40-52. 4 ∙ ⸱ Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts, OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 1-64. 5 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/what/investment-policy_en 6 ∙ ⸱ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funding/cohesion-fund_en 7 ∙ ⸱

https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funding/erdf_en 8 ∙ ⸱

Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013, OJ L 435/1, 6.12.2021. 9 ∙ ⸱

https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility/country-pages/greeces-recovery-and-resilience- plan_en 10 ∙ ⸱

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en 11 ∙ ⸱ https://www.water4all-partnership.eu/ 12 ∙ ⸱

https://prima-med.org/ 13 ∙ ⸱

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/eu-missions-horizon- europe/soil-deal-europe_en