The book "Water and Liberalisation. European water scenarios" presents the results of the EUROMARKET project that analysed the organisation of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in Europe. At the heart of the project was the development of possible scenarios for the future of the European WSS sector. Ecologic contributed one chapter to the book and analysed the environmental implications of the different scenarios.

Debates and discussions are still taking place on the aims of the European Commission as regards the strengthening of competition in the water sector. The question is: What would the consequences be for the German water and wastewater sector, if water provision was to be increasingly subjected to competition, public procurement and internal market rules?

European Commission plans indicate that the water supply should no longer be subject to municipal self-administration, but instead to European competition rules, and maybe even to a mandatory tendering procedure. Such a development would have far-reaching effects on the German drinking water supply, which is characterised by strong communal influence.

The Austrian Water and Waste Management Association (ÖWAV) organised the ÖWAV-Forum 2005 on "Water Sector and Politics – Structures, Controls and Financing". The aim of the conference was to discuss the future of the Austrian water sector, in particular the new legal, economic and environmental regulations. R. Andreas Kraemer presented the trends at European level and their potential effects on the municipal water sector.

The Technical University Berlin hosted the conference "Water – Economic Good, Weapon, Human Right" on 9 February 2005. Ecologic Associate Britta Pielen spoke on the recent trends towards liberalisation in European water policy and the implications for the German water sector. Over the last years, the water and sanitation sector has increasingly been put under reform pressure. In particular at the European level, a political trend towards liberalising the provision of water services can be observed. These attempts are generally justified by the supposedly positive experiences with the liberalisation of other network industries, as well as with stricter environmental and quality requirements.

According to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), all water bodies in the European Union should reach 'good status' by 2015. The WFD is one of the first environmental policy directives of the European Community that explicitly draws on economic considerations for achieving its ambitious objectives. By the end of 2004, an economic analysis of the importance of water uses has to be completed for each river basin district. This article summarises the present implementation status of the economic analysis in Germany and other European Member States and outlines challenges ahead for the reporting deadline 2004.

Eduard Interwies, Senior Economist at Ecologic, presented an assessment of the impact on the German water sector of recent developments concerning the potential liberalisation of water services at EU level.

The future of the water sector in Europe has been increasingly at the heart of political debates. Potential evolution of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector had not, however, been the subject of in-depth studies. The EUROMARKET project filled this gap by analysing a selection of scenarios for the evolution of the European WSS sector, ranging from delegation contracts to community management, and investigating their social, economic, environmental and institutional implications.

R. Andreas Kraemer, the Director of Ecologic Institute, presented a first assessment of recent developments concerning the potential liberalisation of water services in Europe.

Herbke, Nadine; Britta Pielen; Jessica Ward et al. 2004: Deliverable 7 Implications of the Different Scenarios – EUROMARKET Water Liberalisation Scenarios - Analysis of the Environmental Implications of the Scenarios. Ecologic– Institute for International and European Environmental Policy/ UNESCO-IHE – Institute for Water Education.

2004: Deliverable 5 - EUROMARKET Water Liberalisaion Scenarios - Identification and Description of Plausible Water Liberalisation Scenarios. IDD/IHE/EPFL/Paris VIII/Delft UT/ENGREF/University Bocconi/Ecologic/UCL/University of Zaragoza.

2004: Deliverable 4 – EUROMARKET Water Liberalisaion Scenarios – Analysis of the Legislation and Emerging Regulation at the EU Country Level. UCL/IHE/Paris VIII/ENGREF/Ecologic.

2003: Deliverable 1 - EUROMARKET Water Liberalisaion Scenarios - Analysis of the European Unions Explicit and Implicit Policies and Approaches in the Larger Water Sector. ENGREF/IHE/EPFL/Paris VIII/Delft UT/University Bocconi/University of Birmingham/Ecologic/UCL/University of Zaragoza.