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)

reform of the sector in question on a Regional scale within the process of
liberalization and re-definition of powers as already emphasized by Title V of
the Italian Constitutional Treaty.

The present reform of environmental LPUs relies on a very practical approach
as, while considering the very strong social and economic value of the services
provided in this sector, it starts from the observation that said services cannot
be totally guaranteed by public subjects as social wellbeing and management
efficiency are objectives that do not rule out, but rather envisage the
interaction of multiple stakeholders.

Before describing in more detail the provisions envisaged by Directive
2000/60/EC it could be expedient to describe how the regulations on water
public utilities have evolved in Italy.

2.1. Short hints at evolution of both national and EU regulations on water
management through the role of the stakeholders involved.

National Laws

Since the very beginning and for a long time, the Italian Laws regulating water
management have been characterized by a profound fragmentation as they
were made of rules meant to give guarantees to different types of users and
totally neglected the problem of compatibility between use and persistence in
time of well-determined features.

The process of reform of the body of laws on water was started by Law 319/76
(Merli Law), that dictated the rules in terms of waste waters and decentralized
the planning activities to the Regional governments requiring them to draw up
their Piano Regionale di Risanamento delle Acque (Regional Plan of Water
Treatment).

The tasks assigned to the Regional Boards under this law have asserted the
essential role played by the Regions in terms of setting up planning,
programming and coordination activities.

In spite of this today, more than twenty years after the passing of the above
law, the results seem to have been poor both in terms of shortage of
monitoring facilities and in terms of the establishment of an environmental
policies wrongly based on bans and on an ill-coordinated management of
water quality and quantity.

<<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   >>

More intriguing information