Water services are essential services. They support the sustainable development of our societies and are fundamental to realising the ambition of the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but little is known about them. This is because the infrastructure is mainly underground, accessible only to a few service engineers and also because it is sometimes situated far from urban areas and protected for obvious security reasons. But also because water services’ organisation differs from country to country due to history, cultural heritage and national or local traditions which result in specific regulatory frameworks.

In order to bring clarity and to simplify the understanding of the governance of water services in Europe, our report provides a snapshot of the current situation in the 29 EurEau member countries and illustrates the diversity of management models, organisational structures, tasks and responsibilities of the players involved at the different levels of governance (EU, national, regional or local).

The report is here.