Wellsprings of Resistance

Struggles over Water in Europe

05.03.2019
Madelaine Moore

Water is undeniably vital for human life, yet it is precisely because of water‘s fundamental role that it has long been a focus of struggles in Europe between ruling classes and the people. There have been numerous attempts to rob people of their access to water and deny them decision-making powers over these precious resources and their management. Various social movements have struggled to resist these attempts. So now would seem like an appropriate time to provide a balanced overview of the issue.

The first aim of this publication is to describe the relations of power and institutional strategies at European level regarding water management, which are regaining relevance through the European Commission‘s revision of both the Water Framework Directive and the Drinking Water Directive.

A second aim of this publication is to provide a structured description of the recent struggles that have taken place at the global, European and local levels against privatisation, advocating the remunicipalisation of water and its environmental protection. The main purpose of this systemising approach is to summarise and discuss the strategies adopted by social movements and some related threats.

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