President ACV-CSC Services publics (Belgium): "I sign for the Human Right to Water"

Candidate Mayor of Paris

Famous Czech Singer: "Every person has the right to have a free access to clean water and sanitation"

Founding member of the Italian Forum of Water Movements and one of the promoters of the successful 2011 Italian referendum against the privatization of water utilities: "Firstly, this is a matter of civilization. Universal access to water and sanitation is a basic human right, recognised by the UN General Assembly: now we ask the EU to act in line with this position, embracing and implementing such a fundamental right. This means stopping and immediately reversing the privatization of water utilities and the resulting commodification of water itself. But this is also a matter of democracy: the people of Europe should decide, and not the Troika, which follows the destructive prescriptions of neoliberal economics and exploits the crisis to destroy social rights and to privatize common goods and public services. Two years ago, in a popular Referendum, 27 million Italians voted against the privatization of water utilities and of local public services. This overwhelming victory shows us clearly that there is no such thing as a pre-ordained destiny: if we have the will, if we are capable of organizing, then we can defeat neoliberal policies. That is why it is now so crucial to sign and support the ECI on water, as the ECI is the first tool - however weak - of direct democratic participation provided at the European level, which gives voice to the people on what type of Europe we want: a Union based on real democracy, universal rights, common goods and public services for all. As citizens we can sign the ECI and become “legislators”, because we have no intention of letting the financial markets and the economic powers decide what our future should be"

Directrice générale de l’intercommunale belge Vivaqua et Administratrice déléguée d’Aqua Publica Europea: «Au sein d’Aqua Publica Europea, association qui regroupe les principaux acteurs publics de l’eau européens, je me bats pour que l’eau, bien public, reste entre les mains du public. » Christiane Franck, directeur-generaal van de Belgische intercommunale Vivaqua en gedelegeerd bestuurder van Aqua Publica Europea, steunt de actie 'right2water'. "Binnen Aqua Publica Europea, de Europese vereniging van de openbare wateroperatoren, strijd ik ervoor dat het beheer van het water, als openbaar goed, in handen van de openbare sector blijft".

Chairman of the Institute for the Danube region and Central Europe (IDM) in Vienna, Austria. "Water is life. The ecological situation for us will be more and more dependent on water. We have to do a lot to keep this condition of life available for everybody."

Professor at Zaragoza University, Spain: "Deberíamos introducir el derecho humano al agua potable y al saneamiento básico en nuestras constituciones y leyes fundamentales, como han hecho ya varios países latinoamericanos. La UE debería hacer lo propio, reformando la Directiva Marco de Aguas; y no sólo por lo que significaría de cara a los propios países de la Unión, sino también por el eco que tendría a nivel mundial y las implicaciones que deberían derivarse en lo referente a nuestra responsabilidades globales."

Conseiller Général du Val-de-Marne (France): « L’eau, plus qu’un besoin vital, est un droit qui reste à conquérir en France, en Europe et dans le monde. Le service public est un élément fort de la garantie d’accès pour toutes et tous à l’eau et à l’assainissement »

Professor, Manchester University, UK: "Water is not just a human right, access to water is a matter of democratic equality".

Mayor of Naples (Italy): "Diviene progressivamente centrale un'efficace gestione dei beni comuni, intesi quali acqua e servizi pubblici, attraverso forme di accesso e di gestione condivise, con la partecipazione dei cittadini. Stiamo lavorando a un testo costituzionale europeo più attento ai diritti della cittadinanza, i cui contenuti si svilupperanno attraverso il lavoro dei sindaci, delle rappresentanze istituzionali dei territori, ed il coinvolgimento della cittadinanza attiva." "It becomes ever more necessary to establish effective ways of managing common goods, such as water and public services, through new participatory forms of access and management, with citizens actively involved. We’re working at a new European Constitution, closer to citizens’ rights, to be developed through the efforts of all mayors and institutional representations of territories and through the engagement of active citizenship."

Famous Czech actor: "I traveled a lot and I had the opportunity to see and experience how important it is, that each person in the world has the right to drink clean water! Having a functional sanitary helps to reduce the spread of infectious diseases to a minimum"

Schepen van Openbare Werken en Mobiliteit in Gent, Belgium: "Water: onze publieke verantwoordelijkheid".

Coordinator Water Justice Network and Professor at Wageningen University, Netherlands: "Secure access to safe and sufficient water is fundamental for human beings and their social, natural and cultural living environments, but is increasingly threatened by powerful interests and agents who see it foremost as a commodity apt for profit-making business. Amidst water policies and practices that tend to be coloured by fundamentally unequal relations of power, the human right to water for all, and a fair and sustainable distribution of available water, are among the main issues and struggles of our time”

Präsident der Allianz der öffentlichen Wasserwirtschaft e. V. (AöW) und Vorstandsvorsitzender Emschergenossenschaft/Lippeverband: "Wasser ist unser Lebenselixier – ein Gut, das wir schützen und bewahren wollen. Für die Menschen und die Umwelt. Die AöW lehnt die Liberalisierung und Privatisierung der Wasserwirtschaft ab. Wasser gehört in die öffentliche Hand!"

Mayor of Paris (France)