"The access to clean water is a fundamental right, not a merchandise," Paul Lannoye, President of the Green/EFA Group said today at the opening of the 4th P7 Summit in the European Parliament in Brussels. The conference, which was organised by the Greens and European Free Alliance, is dedicated to the question "Water - a right to life in the 21st Century".
In reference to the G7 meeting of the biggest industrial powers in the World, the Greens/EFA named this conference P7, as it represents seven of the poorest countries in the world. This year's seven countries are Cambodia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Egypt and Bolivia.
"With this conference we want to give the people of the South, which are rarely listened to, a voice in the international debate," said Paul Lannoye.
Ministers, experts and NGOs representatives are among the two hundred participants from fifty countries taking part in the discussions, which are ongoing until Friday.
In his opening remarks Paul Lannoye criticised the Second World Forum on Water in The Hague earlier this spring. "In their final declaration, the 118 states which participated in The Hague refused to consider the access to water as a vital basic need. They regard water as an economic good, which reflects the definition used by private water companies."
The Italian Riccardo Petrella, the President of Global Water Contract, said that according to a study by the Swiss bank Pictet, currently 300 million people receive their water from private suppliers. By 2015 it will be 1650 million people.
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Press Service of the Greens/EFA Group
in the European Parliament
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