Jörg Hinners
“Vote for Fritz!”, With this appeal Michael Fritz hoped for broad approval from the people. The 30-year-old, very slim Swabian, who lives in Hamburg St. Pauli, did not want to be elected to the Bundestag or the European Parliament, but as the first “democratically elected millionaire”. “Get democratically rich”, with this motto the broadcasting group Pro7SAT1 tried to inspire viewers and candidates for the “millionaire election”. But the show turned into a quota disaster and ended up on the Internet.
Water for Ethiopia
The money wanted Michael Fritz, his manpower and energy as one of ten permanent employees the registered association "Viva con Agua"To use to give 100.000 people in Ethiopia access to fresh water. Michael Fritz and his colleagues sit in the well office, in a modern brick building, which sprays the atmosphere of an advertising agency through matte concrete walls and lots of glass. The activity in the rooms of "Viva con Agua" underlines this impression. Only the ragged desks and employees in the classic St. Pauli look - black pants, black sweater with skull emblem and St. Pauli lettering - do not quite fit into this picture. During the campaign for the election of Michael Fritz as a millionaire, the Well Bureau was the heart chamber of the water activists. Short clips for social media platforms have been and are being designed to attract as many people as possible to the topic of "Everyone for Water, Water for All". "Viva con Agua" is committed to a world without thirst.
Nestlé's "Extreme Solution"
More than twice as old as Michael Fritz is Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. He, too, cares about water, but above all he has his sights set on the well-being of Nestlé. The 69-year-old Villacher is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the world's largest food company. For him, the future of Nestlé depends on access to the water. Eight years ago, the manager unleashed a shitstorm on the Internet because he said in the camera of documentary filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer, "There are two different views. The one, I would say extreme, is represented by the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations, author's note), which insist that water is declared a public right. That is, as a human, they should simply have the right to have water. That's the one extreme solution. And the other one who says, water is a food. Like any other food, it should have a market value. I personally think it's better to give value to a food, so we all know that it costs a bit. (...) "Brabeck-Letmathes statements outraged globalization opponents around the world. For good reason. The fact that purely privately owned water companies see profit maximization and not the optimal supply of the citizens as a priority of their actions, is evident wherever the water supply has already been privatized, as in some municipalities of Portugal and Greece, but also in London and Berlin. By selling municipal waterworks, a lot of money was flushed into the empty community coffers. Consequence for the citizens: Drinking water is almost always more expensive and often worse.
The controversy about the water
Outraged by the negative effects of privatization, the 30 met. January in the German capital for the first time the "Berlin Water Council". The aim of the organizations and initiatives united here is to reverse the partial privatization of the metropolitan water supply after 14 years. The "Berliner Wasserrat" demands "that the future municipal Berliner Wasserbetriebe be fully run in community ownership under the direct involvement of the population and should not be subject to profit maximization."
European Commissioner Michel Barnier should not like such ideas. Last year, the French internal market expert came up with a draft concession directive, which apparently intended to fix exactly the opposite. He sparked the biggest outcry in the European public since the banishment of the old light bulb. What happened?
The proposal stipulated that a municipality could also place the water supply in private hands. Or, to put it another way, international water companies can buy into local water supplies anywhere in Europe. This could have drastic consequences for Austria in particular, because 90 percent of the drinking water supply in this country is in municipal hands. The ten percent privately owned are in-house wells. So far no market for water multinationals.
Critics see a "water mafia" at work, they include global companies such as the French companies Suez, Saur and Veolia, but also Nestlé from Switzerland. Their fear: The Concessions Directive would inevitably lead to rigorous privatization of Europe's water resources. Private-owned water for the economic enrichment of shareholders? Nestlé chairman of the board Peter Brabeck would probably have had little objection, since above all global corporations profit from the ever-advancing opening of the markets.
"There is a threat of a sell-out of the water supply and the liberalization of other sensitive services of general interest." Thomas Kattnig, trade unionist
Direct democracy: very first EU citizens' initiative
The driving force behind the resistance is the public service unions all over the continent. Together they organize a European Citizens' Initiative, abbreviated to EBI, under the slogan "Right 2 Water". Thomas Kattnig, International Referent to the GdG-KMSfB (Union of Community Employees - Arts, Media, Sports, Liberal Professions) fears: "The sale of the water supply and the liberalization of other sensitive services of general interest are threatening." And probably also the loss of jobs. Not least thanks to the organizational foundations of the unions, "Right 2 Water" is the first EBI not only to achieve the required one million signatures, but also the country quorum that the EU has set as an additional hurdle for a successful EBI. In at least seven member states of the Union, a minimum number of signatures must be collected in order to be heard in Brussels. In Austria, almost 65.000 signatures have submitted four and a half times more signatures than necessary. In Germany it was even 18 times more than necessary, exactly 1.382.195.
Direct Democratic Placebo?
At first glance, the "European Citizens' Initiative" does not seem to be much more than a direct democratic placebo. Although "Right 2 Water" had already passed all bureaucratic hurdles in September, the EU Commission is not obliged to bring the referendum as a legislative initiative into the European Parliament. It merely has to comment publicly and retains the sole right of initiative. However, this also corresponds to our principle of representative democracy, on which Austria and the EU are based. We are all represented by the European Parliament and only by voting in the elections do we have the power to influence European law through our MEPs.
The bad state of the EU
Regrettable only that the mean EU citizen is less and less convinced that his vote can really make a difference. For decades, turnout has been declining. 1979 cast 63 percent of Europeans in the first direct ballot. At the last European elections, there were only 43 percent. In Austria and Germany it is on 25. May again so far and this time the turnout could be even lower. Is an election result, which in the end is based on not even half of all votes, still democratic? Belgium, Luxembourg and Greece do not know this problem of legitimacy, where compulsory voting applies. An option.
However, by compulsory voting, skepticism towards Europe, its politicians and institutions would hardly diminish. In this country, the anger about the Union is even very big. Only 25 percent of Austrians have a good opinion of the EU, but 35 percent a negative.
Forms of direct democracy could certainly ensure that the individual finds himself in Europe again. This seems to be a current trend. The call for direct citizen participation is getting louder and louder. Great hope rests on "Right 2 Water". Even the immense support in the form of more than a million signatures within half a year triggered so much pressure on Brussels that on the 25. June of last year, water management was excluded from the Concessions Directive. A huge success for "Right 2 Water". And a stage victory.
But only well-organized people have the opportunity to be perceived across borders by the public and thus make their voice heard. Just like the unions supporting "Right 2 Water", and perhaps soon the Catholic Church, in whose ranks so-called life-guards have founded the Citizens' Initiative "One of Us". It wants to ensure that EU funds are no longer spent on embryo experiments and cloning.
On the 17. February was the time. For the first time, organizers of an ECI in Brussels will be able to present their arguments to representatives of the Commission and MEPs. Thomas Kattnig was there. To regard "water as a human right" actually corresponds to common sense. Actually. Not all MPs are open to all claims of "Right 2 Water". The hearing is also a wake-up call for all lobbyists in the water industry, but even Kattnig is combative. Protecting water as a livelihood against private value creation sees the 47-year-old SPÖ MPs in the rallying European election campaign as an important topic of his party.
EU Commission promises ...
How far the EU Commission will give in to the concerns of "Right 2 Water" will determine the credibility and meaningfulness of this direct democratic instrument. Shortly before the deadline, Vice-President Maroš Šefcovic said: "The citizens of Europe have raised their concerns and the Commission has responded positively today. As a direct result of this first pan-European, citizen-driven democracy process, improved water quality, infrastructure, sanitation and transparency benefits all people, both in Europe and in developing countries. I congratulate the organizers for their success. "- What really follows remains to be seen.
Even Peter Brabeck is "impressed by the broad discussion that has set the EBI Right 2 Water in motion," says Philippe Aeschlimann, a "corporate spokesperson for Nestlé". Coincidence or not, on the 4. Last September, the food company posted a video with Brabeck on YouTube, in which he sounds very different from his notorious statement by 2005. Now he says, "I have always supported the human right to water. Every person should have enough clean and safe water for their basic daily needs, from 50 to 100 liters per day. (...) We have to start to understand water as a valuable resource. "
Michael Fritz (picture) and his colleagues from Viva con Agua (VcA) agree with these words of Peter Brabeck, yet they separate worlds. While Nestlé's chairman wants to label the "precious resource" with a price tag, water activists focus on giving 768 millions of people free access to this most important of all foods. Michael Fritz advocates that corporations in principle should not be the owner of the planet's most valuable resource, but says in the same breath that "Viva con Augua" does not want to become too political. It is the meaningful activity, coupled with a lot of fun, that drives him and the project forward.
It is instructive, as Nestlé spokesman Philippe Aeschlimann tries to take the group out of responsibility: "Bottled water" is neither part of the problem nor part of the solution, even the quantities are already too small. In the case of water sold by Nestlé, it is only 0,0009 percent of the total freshwater withdrawn for human consumption. Nestlé is not active in the public water supply and has no intention to expand its business activities to tap water supply. "Nevertheless, a gigantic business. According to research by Swiss television, Nestlé's turnover is estimated at nine billion francs, or around 7,4 billion euros, with this seemingly tiny amount of water. This roughly corresponds to the state budget of the Republic of Cyprus.
The water that is bottled also comes from some sources. “Viva con Agua” also has its own source. It is located in a forest near Husum on the German North Sea coast. Well No. 84 of Stadtwerke Husum GmbH is 18 meters deep. The Husum people bottle the “Viva con Agua” spring water. 60 percent of the sales profit will go to water projects in Africa and Asia, 40 percent should bring back the invested start-up capital in the long term. Nevertheless, says Michael Fritz, it makes most sense for those who are thirsty to drink tap water because it saves resources. And "if that is not possible, then bottled, social water, so Viva con Auga". The social bottled water is not yet available in Austria. But maybe you should ask your dealer. Wouldn't be an option!
Photo / Video: Shutterstock, Christian Rinke.
