Exclusion of water from the Concessions Directive: Statement by Commissioner Barnier

“For months now, there have been reports that the European Commission is trying to privatise water by the back door, through its proposal on concessions. This has never been the intention. (...) Despite all the changes to the legal text, (...) it is my judgment that the text we now have relating to water (...) does not provide the reassurances that citizens expect (...). That is why the best solution now appears to remove water from the scope of the concessions directive”. Statement by Commissioner Barnier.