(Brussels 11 February)

Yesterday, the first up and running European Citizens Initiative (ECI) ‘Water is a Human

Right’ made history as also being the first ECI in the history of the European Union to have collected over 1 million signatures.

Anne-Marie Perret, President of the Citizens Committee says “Reaching this important

milestone, with one Million EU citizens agreeing that water and sanitation are human rights, is a great success. We appreciate the support of so many and will continue campaigning to pass a strong message to the European Commission. We have also managed to overcome the start up problems, as well as the legal and technical barriers forced upon us by the European Commission and Member States.”

The ECI “Water is a Human Right” has been a success not just because more than 1 million people have signed but in terms of creating a real European debate. 2013 is the European Year of citizenship and we have manage to get more than 1.5 million visits to our website the month of January only. It has contributed to creating a space for a European debate in which many citizens are engaging.

The ECI will continue to collect signatures to ensure that the voices of as many people in as many different countries as possible are heard. On March 22rd we will celebrate World WaterDay with well over a million voices against liberalization of water, and for the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation in the EU.

For more information: Pablo Sanchez, psanchez@epsu.org 0032 (0) 474 62 66 33

EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 275 trade unions; EPSU organizes workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration, in all European countries including in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. EPSU is the  recognized regional organization of Public Services International (PSI).