Public Private Partnership in EU Watermarkets

AQUALIBRIUM - Debate on privatisation in the water sector

As a consequence of increasing deregulation in European water markets, more and more private companies are becoming involved in water supply and wastewater disposal. This development has led to controversial debate. With these current changes in the water sector, central questions are being asked such as how technical modernisation will be achieved, how prices will be held stable, and how maintaining health and environmental protection requirements will be guaranteed? inter 3 has been commissioned by the European Union to produce a study within the joint project "AQUALIBRIUM” on the status of the debate in the various countries of Europe.

Objective: To improve the level of knowledge on Public Private Partnerships

The aim of the project is to provide an overview of the debates and the various options for the involvement of private companies in the water sector in the individual EU Member States. To this end, a separate study will be produced for each Member State which identifies the thematic differences in the debate in each respective country and which summarises national particularities in legislation, organisation and financing of water supply. Based on these studies, the advantages and disadvantages highlighted in the debate of different participation models are presented.

Approach: Organisational forms in water markets

Based on this information, a "knowledge map" will be created depicting the status of each respective national strategy for the organisational form of the water market. Included in the investigation is an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of different cooperation models, the identification of thematic focuses and gaps in knowledge, as well as recommendations from "best practice” examples.