Sustainability of economic development and governance patterns in water management - an overview on the reorganisation of public utilities in Campania, Italy, under EU Framework Directive in the field of water policy (2000/60/CE)

In the White Paper such notion is defined as follows: “the notion of
governance designates those rules, processes and behaviours that have an
impact on how powers are held at a European level, above all in terms of the
principles of openness, participation, accountability, efficacy and
consistency”.

Now, making reference to the notion of governance in the above sense of the
word, the objective of this study is that of indicating those techniques and
those coordination efforts that should be put in place, both in terms of
regulation and of operation, to allow for an efficient operation of the water
sector.

Over the last few years the European Union has promoted development
strategies based on synergisms likely to occur in the course of an economic
and social reform that takes into account the problems of the environment. In
such a context, as stated in “Green Paper on Services of General Interest”,
published by the Commission on May 21, 2003, general interest services
(among which water utilities stand out in terms of importance) play a crucial
role.

The same Commission in its Green Paper expresses the belief that such
services account for “an opportunity of dialogue with public Authorities
within a context of a good governance”.

The crucial point remains, however, defining the notion of good governance in
the sector of the organization, regulation and assessment of public utilities. To
this end, the European Commission has identified in the public/private
partnership, an appropriate tool to create new forms of cooperation amongst
the multiple subjects involved in the system of organization of different
sectors, public utilities included.

In line with this view, it is up to the member-States to respond and meet the
general criteria indicated by the European Community, defining the specific
modalities of enforcement of the individual provisions, in full respect of all the
obligations thereof (those related to territorial coverage, those related to
quality and safety standards, those related to the rights of the users/consumers,
and to environmental requirements).

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