The Regulation of Water Services in the EU: A Difficult Attempt to Balance Between Environmental, Economic and Social Interests

Abstract

The article aspires to delve into the question of whether the EU framework for water services can take sufficiently into account the multiple dimensions of water and regulate the competing interests in a balanced way. At first, the regulation of the three dimensions of water in International Law (environmental, social and economic) is briefly analysed. As regards the EU Legal Order, the regulation of water within the framework of the EU environmental legislation is at fist traced. Then, emphasis is placed on the classification and regulation of water services as Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI), the application of the State Aid and the Internal Market rules and the possible tensions arising with regard to the accessibility and the quality of the water services. Furthermore, the impact of Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as an example of the new Trade Agreements on the regulation of the water services is put under the spotlight. A central conclusion is that the various aspects concerning water services are addressed in a rather comprehensive manner in the EU Regulatory Framework, although tensions continue to exist. Moreover, CETA creates a new regulatory ‘landscape’ that may ‘disrupt’ the existing delicate balance concerning the regulation in this field.