WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

today – that Stuttgart’s water supply had not been sold at all and that
the Water Forum was simply spreading false information to incite the
public.
Mayor Schuster himself performed an even greater balancing act
by arguing time and time again at organised events and in newspaper
articles in favour of keeping the water supply in the public domain.
The politician who expressed himself in the most preposterous way,
in my opinion, was Rezzo Schlauch, parliamentary leader of the Green
Party in the Bundestag at the time. On May 7, 2002, he wrote an
email in answer to a query voicing concern about a takeover of the
existing operator by large foreign companies. I quote: “First of all, I
wish to protest against the blanket demonisation of ‘global companies’.
This kind of generalisation is simply missing the point and does not
do justice to the complexity of the issue. Secondly, I would ask you
to take note of the advantages and opportunities to be gained from
increased competition, even within the public service sector (falling
prices, better service ...). Why should our water not be delivered by a
foreign company The main thing is that reasonable quality and safety
standards are set by the government. This is exactly what is happening,
above all at European level. One last word on the topic of ‘German’
resources: the use of this terminology is, in my opinion, indicative of
an anachronistic form of nationalism, which is as backward-looking as
it is dangerous. Why should it matter at all whether energy is German,
French, British or Belgian In a Europe which is becoming more and
more unified there should no longer be any room for such categories.”
All the clichés which are usually cited in order to promote the
commercialisation of public services appear in this statement: it is
“nationalistic” to have our essential public services provided by
municipal operating companies, which have been protected for
generations by a regional monopoly, just as it is a gesture of openness
and understanding in a “Europe which is becoming more and more
unified” to have foreign companies running the municipal installations
and utilities which provide our essential public services. This may well
be true of a Europe of bureaucrats and consortiums but, with regard
to Schlauch’s remarks, it remains to be seen just how the operating
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