The document summarizes the water privatization process in Berlin in the 1990s. A small group of key actors decided to privatize water services with little public participation or transparency. The privatization contract was not disclosed to the public. Opposition parties and citizens were sidelined from the decision-making process. Only the media provided information to the public about the privatization decisions. The privatization led to higher water rates for citizens and problems for Berlin.

3. WATER PRIVATIZATION
In the 1990s Berlin was governed by a
coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and
Christian Democrats (CDU). Water
privatization was decided by a small group
of key actors. The opposition parties, the
party base of the SPD and the citizens were
completely sidelined. Only the media
provided information about the decisions
that concerned all the inhabitants of the city.
Members of Germany's conservative parties arrive
for preliminary coalition with the Social Democratic
Party at the Parliamentary Society in Berlin, Oct. 14,
2013.
•
As is usual in privatization projects, decisionmaking was neither public nor transparent,
and all public influence was considered as
potentially detrimental. The privatization
contract between the city and the water
companies was not disclosed and only a very
restricted number of politicians had access to
it.

4. ument is that the state
provide the necessary
e deemed ineffective.
Negotiations to end the largest municipal P3 in
Germany were finally concluded on September 10
with a deal by the Berlin government to spend
€650 million (C$893 million) to buy back shares of
the Berlin Water Company that have been in the
hands of water giant Veolia since a P3 deal was
signed in 1999. A press release (translated from
German) from the Berlin Water Table celebrated
the end of the P3 by saying, "With the repurchase
of shares of the Veolia Water Company, the Senate
ended a nearly 14 year old partial
privatization. This has left the people of Berlin, the
highest water rates in the major German cities as
well as a mountain of problems.
Success and campaign 2

5. Distribution of flyers
informing water
privatization
In response to the negative consequences of water
privatization popular resistance increased. A citizens’
initiative was born: “No more secret contracts – we want our
water back”. It proposes a law on the full disclosure of the
agreement on the partial privatization of the Berlin Water
Works (Berliner Wasserwerke) in 1999. On 6 October 2009
the Court ruled that the citizens’ initiative was valid. Now it
was the parliament’s turn to take a position, and it rejected
the initiative. Those in power had tried everything to stop the
initiative: first rejection, then preemption, and finally silence
instead of a campaign, hoping that not enough people would
go to vote. A great victory for the organisers of the citizens’
initiative which had very limited financial resources and felt
that the referendum campaign had not been fair.
Protest place
Banners
Campaign 1

6. The consequences of water privatization were quite contrary to
what was promised: the price of water rose, additional investments
into water quality were suspended for commercial reasons, jobs
were lost and tax money was used to secure the guaranteed profits
of the private investors et cetera. Water privatization did not resolve
Berlin’s financial deficits.

10. With per capita availability of water depleting at a f
pace, the government today approved a proposal to
declare 2013 as Water Conservation Year under whi
awareness programmes will be launched for conserv
of the scarce natural resource. Auto MNCs in India h
been focussing on water conservation as part of its
outreach and community initiatives in
India. Hyundai Motor India has been working on wa
harvesting and recycling and now Ford India has its
initiative in Sanand, Gujarat.
Participants at a workshop on water conservation o
Wednesday called for utilizing technology to the hilt
address water shortages. The Government of A.P ha
already initiated a massive program of creation of
irrigation infrastructure.