Water supply and sanitation in France
Encyclopedia
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... : Water and Sanitation |
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| Data | |||
| Access to piped water supply | 99.5% (2003) | ||
| Sanitation coverage (narrow definition) | 82% (2004) | ||
| Continuity of supply (%) | 100% | ||
| Average urban water use (l/c/d) | 165 (2004) or 262 (2003) | ||
| Average urban domestic water and sewer bill | Euro 31/month | ||
| Share of household metering | high | ||
| Non-revenue water Non-revenue water Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself... |
26% |- |
Share of collected wastewater treated | not available |
| Annual investment in WSS | 86 Euro/capita | ||
| Share of self-financing by utilities | close to 100% | ||
| Share of tax-financing | Low, in rural areas | ||
| Share of external financing | 0% | ||
| Institutions | |||
| Decentralization to municipalities | Yes | ||
| National water and sanitation company | None | ||
| Water and sanitation regulator | No | ||
| Responsibility for policy setting | |||
| Sector law | None | ||
| Number of service providers | about 13,500 (water) and about 15,000 (sanitation) | ||
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
and sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
is universal and of good quality. Salient features of the sector compared to other developed countries are the high degree of private sector participation using concession and lease contracts (gestion déléguée) and the existence of basin agencies that levy fees on utilities in order to finance environmental investments. Water losses in France (26%) are high compared to England (19%) and Germany (7%).
This article is part of a series of articles describing water and sanitation in various countries around the world using the same categories to facilitate comparison. For more details see the links to articles on other countries in the category "Water supply and sanitation by country" at the end of the article.
Access
Access to improved water supply and to adequate sanitation in France is universal. However, not every household has access to water from the network or disposes its wastewater through sewers.Concerning water supply, according to a survey undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1995, 370,000 permanent inhabitants in rural areas (0.5% of the total population) did not have access to piped water supply. They are supplied by 30,000 water points, most of them wells. The government plans to increase the access rate to 100 %, improve water quality by establishing protection areas around wells and springs, and to increase the reliability of water supply by increasing production, storage and interconnection of existing networks.
Concerning sanitation, while most of the population is served by sewers, according to one source about 12 million people (18%) out of 65 are served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tank
Septic tank
A septic tank is a key component of the septic system, a small-scale sewage treatment system common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes provided by local governments or private corporations...
s. The above-mentioned inventory by the Ministry of Agriculture notes that out of 40m inhabitants of rural areas – 25m permanent and 15m seasonal inhabitants – 21m are connected to a sewer system, 10.6m should be connected and 9.6m cannot be connected. The total of those not connected to sewers (20.2 million) is higher because it includes seasonal inhabitants. The government intends to increase the coverage to the sewer networks in rural areas, in particular in ecologically vulnerable zones.
Water use
- 39 % for baths and showers
- 20 % for toilets
- 12 % for washing clothes
- 10 % for washing dishes
- 6 % for food preparation
- 6 % for other residential uses
- 6 % for outdoor uses (lawn watering and washing cars)
- 1 % for drinking
Water sources
Service quality
Service quality is generally good with continuous water supply. In early 2008 private operators published for the first time consolidated performance indicators on service quality. It showed that 99.7% of samples complied with bacteriological standards for drinking water quality, but only 82.3% of samples complied with standards for the discharge of treated wastewater. The share of unplanned water service interruptions was less than 3%. The indicators do not include statistics on sewer overflows. A decree of May 2007 requires public service providers to provide the same information on service quality to the public that has been provided by private service providers, beginning in 2008.According to a 2008 survey by the water information centre C.I.Eau 81% of respondents think that tap water is safe to drink. As in other EU countries, water quality monitoring is carried out at two levels, first by the service provider on a permanent basis, and second by the authorities on a sample basis.
The lack of wastewater treatment in some cities and towns discharging wastewater into sensitive areas is another matter of concern. In January 2008 the European Commission sent France a final warning alerting it that it will be taken to the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
(ECJ) for the second time and possibly face fines unless it quickly brings its waste water treatment up to EU standards. France is not complying with the 1991 EU directive on urban waste water treatment. The deadline for treating all wastewater covered by the directive was 31 December 2000. In 2004 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) condemned France for failing to designate eleven areas as sensitive and for inadequate treatment facilities in a number of settlements which discharge their waste waters into these areas. The ECJ also found that 121 settlements breached the directive by discharging their waste waters into previously designated sensitive areas. In 2006 France designated the eleven areas as sensitive. However, 140 settlements – including the city of Paris – continue to discharge into these sensitive areas. With regard to the 121 settlements discharging into the previously designated sensitive areas France proceeded to rearrange them into 164 settlements, resulting in some settlements no longer meeting the threshold level of 10,000 residents at which the directive applies. The Commission considers such rearranging of settlements to avoid compliance with the directive unacceptable. In November 2009 it referred the matter to the ECJ.
Consumer perceptions
A 2001 report to the French Parliament by one of its members, Yves Tavernier from the Socialist Party, concluded the following:"The French feel that the rapid and poorly distributed increase in the price of water leads to new social inequities. They find it hard to accept that the water tariff weighs essentially on urban users and that, in apartment buildings, it is included in the rent. They do not understand that agricultural production is exempt from the Polluter-pays principle and that it continues to deteriorate the quality of groundwater with impunity. They wonder about the lack of transparency that prevails in the provision of public water supply. Finally, they find it very hard to understand their water bills."
A representative survey of consumers carried out in December 2007 showed that most consumers believe prices are too high. However, it also showed that they overestimate the price of water (Euro 4.80/m3 instead of the actual average price of Euro 3.02/m3). Interestingly, 55% of the French population believe that treated wastewater is directly being reused as drinking water, which is not the case. The survey also shows that 84% of French consumers trust that the quality of their tap water is good. 67% declare that they drink water from the tap at least once a week. Those who are dissatisfied about tap water quality complain mainly about high levels of chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
and calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
.
Infrastructure
Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
Water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment is a municipal responsibility in France. Many municipalities, in particular the smaller ones, have created municipal associations in order to benefit from economies of scaleEconomies of scale
Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...
. Municipalities and municipal associations often contract out water supply and/or sanitation services to the private sector through long-term lease contracts (affermage).
Six water agencies plan the management of water resources, collect fees for the abstraction of water from rivers and aquifers as well as for the discharge of wastewater to the environment, and use the proceeds to subsidize investments in water supply and sanitation.
At the national level, no single Ministry is in charge of the sector and a variety of Ministries and other entities have attributions concerning specific aspects of the sector.
Policy and regulation
Water framework directive
The Water Framework Directive is a European Union directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies The Water Framework Directive (more formally the Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23...
into French law.
At the level of the national government, several Ministries have a role in determining policies for water supply and sanitation: The Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning (Meeddat), the Ministry of Health (in charge of monitoring drinking water quality), the Ministry of Interior (in charge of supervising local government) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (which supervises the Water Agencies together with the Ministry of Ecology).
Environmental regulation is the responsibility of the Ministry of Ecology. Wastewater discharge standards, drinking water quality standards and the framework for water resources management are defined by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
through various directives (see EU water policy). The country's six water agencies (Agences de l'Eau, formerly Agences de Bassins) play an important role to bring together stakeholders at the basin level in a "Water Parliament", in levying water abstraction fees and wastewater discharge fees, and in financing infrastructure with the revenues from these fees.
Unlike in a few other countries (such as England and Wales
Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom
Public water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality. A salient feature of the sector in the United Kingdom compared to other developed countries is the diversity of institutional arrangements between the constituting parts...
, Portugal
Water supply and sanitation in Portugal
The Water supply and sanitation services in Portugal have seen important advances in access to services, technologies used and service quality over the past decades , partially achieved thanks to important funds from the European Union...
or Chile
Water supply and sanitation in Chile
Water supply and sanitation in Chile is characterized by high levels of access and good service quality. Compared to most other countries, Chile's water and sanitation sector distinguishes itself by the fact that all urban water companies are privately owned or operated...
) there is no national regulatory agency in France that would approve tariffs and set and control service standards. There are also no regulatory agencies at the level of the Regions
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
and Departments, unlike in US states
Water supply and sanitation in the United States
Issues that affect water supply and sanitation in the United States include water scarcity, pollution, a backlog of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce...
. The economic regulation of private service provision is undertaken purely by contract through the municipality.
However, the Cour des Comptes (National Audit Entity) plays a role in monitoring water and sewer tariffs as well as expenditures by utilities.
Local level At the local level, in municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants Consultative Commissions for Local Public Services assist municipalities in regulating service providers. The Commissions were created through the 1992 water law. After the commissions initially met with little success, they were strengthened through another law in 2002. Their purpose now is to provide better information on public services through the review of annual reports by the service providers and to be consulted on key decisions such as the delegation of service provision to the private sector or the creation of a municipal enterprise. The consultative commissions are usually chaired by the mayor and their members are members of the municipal council or are nominated by the municipal council. According to a 2003 report by the Cour des Comptes only few Consultative Committees have been created and, where they have been created, they have sometimes never met.
Service provision
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France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, at least 23,000 are part of 2,000 intermunicipal utilities with the specific purpose to provide water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
and - in some cases - sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
services. Sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
services (understood as sewerage and wastewater treatment in this context) are sometimes provided by the same entity that provides water services, but in some cases they are provided directly by the municipality while an intermunicipal utility is in charge of water supply.
Municipal associations Municipal associations (établissements publics de coopération intercommunale, EPCI) play a key role in water and sanitation service provision in France. The first ones were created during the 19th century. Today municipal associations together include 91.7% of French municipalities (33,636) and 86.7% of the French population.
Not all municipal associations provide water and/or sanitation services. Some of them provide only urban transport or solid waste management, while others serve multiple purposes. The most common and oldest form of associations are the syndicats intercommunaux, of which there were 18,504 in January 2008. They do not have powers to levy taxes. 14,885 syndicats intercommunaux serve a single purpose (SIVU), which in the case of some of them is water supply and/or sanitation. The remainder serve multiple purposes (SIVOM).
Subsequent laws created new types of municipal associations that sometimes compete and overlap with the syndicats intercommunaux. In particular the Loi Chevènement of 1999, named after the Ministry of Interior at the time, Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
, created or reorganized four other forms of municipal associations:
- Urban communities (communauté urbaineCommunauté urbaineIn France, urban communities are the most integrated form of intercommunality in France. An urban community is composed of a city and its independent suburbs ....
) with at least 500,000 inhabitants each, created in 1966. There were 14 in January 2008 with a total of 6.2 million inhabitants: AlençonAlençonAlençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
, ArrasArrasArras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
, BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, BrestBrest, FranceBrest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Cherbourg, Dunkerque, le Creusot-Montceau, Le MansLe MansLe Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
, LilleLilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, MarseilleMarseilleMarseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Nancy, NantesNantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
and StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... - Communities of agglomerations (communauté d'agglomérationCommunauté d'agglomérationAn agglomeration community is a metropolitan government structure in France, created by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of three forms of intercommunality, less integrated than an urban community but more integrated than a community of communes...
) with at least 50,000 inhabitants, created in 1999 merging two previously existing forms of associations. There were 171 communities of agglomerations in January 2008 with a total of 21.9m inhabitants - Communities of municipalities (communauté de communesCommunauté de communesA communauté de communes is a federation of municipalities in France. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together...
), created in 1992 and existing predominantly in rural areas, of which there were 2,393 in January 2008 - 5 syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle with 0.3m inhabitants, created in 1960 and now gradually disappearing.
Unlike the syndicats intercommunaux these four latter types of municipal associations can levy taxes. They also receive subsidies from the national government as an incentive to create the associations, with higher subsidies for the most integrated form of association (urban communities) and lower subsidies for the less integrated forms (community of communities). The syndicats intercommunaux, which do not receive subsidies from the national government and are now somewhat declining in numbers, often count communities of agglomerations and communities of municipalities as their members. The resulting duplication has been criticized as wasteful by the "Black Book of Intercommunality" in 2006. A 2005 report by the Cour des Comptes also stated that the quality of the municipal associations is "not fully satisfactory".
Example:SEDIF An example of a single-purpose intermunicipal association for water supply is the Syndicat des Eaux d'Ile-de-France (SEDIF), which regroups 144 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Paris except for the city of Paris itself. Leaving private service providers apart, it is the largest utility in France, serving more than 4 million users. While SEDIF owns its infrastructure, it has contracted out service provision to the private enterprise Veolia Eau. Some municipalities within SEDIF's service area have chosen to provide water services themselves through communities of municipalities or metropolitan communities.
Private sector participation
Some municipalities or municipal associations manage water and/or sanitation services directly (gestion directe), while in other cases they contract services out to the private sector (gestion déléguée).The latter is usually done through a lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
contract (affermage) or a concession
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
contract. A lease contract is of shorter duration (10–15 years) and the responsibility to finance most of the infrastructure remains with the municipality. A concession contract is of longer duration (20–30 years) and the concessionnaire is in charge of mobilizing financial resources. In both cases, the municipality or the intermunicipal utility fixes the water and sanitation tariff and remains the owner of the infrastructure. Other forms of contracting out are the régie intéressée and the gérance, less common forms of private sector participation under which the private sector takes less risks.
Overall, according to the Ministry of Environment 75% of water and 50% of sanitation services in France are provided by the private sector. According to the Institut de la gestion déléguée, an association that supports public-private partnerships, in 2004 the shares were even higher at 81% and 63% for water and sanitation respectively. Urban municipalities or municipal associations tend to delegate service provision to the private sector, while rural communities usually prefer to provide services directly.
There are three large private French water companies:
- Veolia Environnement (known as Compagnie Générale des Eaux in France) provided drinking water to 24.6 million people and wastewater services to 16.7 million people in 2010, in partnership with more than 8,000 municipalities, including LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
- SUEZSUEZSuez S.A. was a leading French-based multinational corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. Suez was result of a 1997 merger between the Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux, a...
(known as Compagnie Lyonnaise des Eaux in France) provided 12 million people with water services in 5,000 municipalities and 9 million with wastewater services in 2,600 municipalities - SAUR provides water and sanitation services to 5.5 million people in more than 6,700 municipalities and municipal associations, mainly in rural and peri-urban areas.
The private Société des Eaux de Marseille (SEM), half owned by Veolia Environnement and half owned by SUEZ, provides Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
with water and wastewater services.
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, announced in June 2008 that when the then on-going contracts with Suez and Veolia would expire the water system would return to public management, which happened on January 1, 2010.
Assessment of private sector participation
Private sector participation in water supply and sanitation has a long tradition in France and has provided many benefits to municipalities, such as lower levels of public debt. However, it is not without its critics. A comparative assessment of public and private service provision is complicated by the absence of a mandatory national performance benchmarking system. Therefore, supporters and opponent of private sector participation often find it hard to provide objective figures to back up their respective positions.Comparison of tariff levels For example, according to the Ministry of Environment, in 1992 tariffs by private providers were 22% higher than for public providers. According to Katherine Varin of the secretariat of CELSIG (Comité européen de liaison sur les Services d'intérêt général), tariffs charged by private providers were 28% higher than for public service providers in 1996, while quality was said to be often lower. After competition in the sector has been strengthened through the Loi Sapin in 1993, which limited the duration of contracts to 20 years, among others, the difference declined to 13% in 1998, according to the Ministry of Environment. No matter how high the difference is, these assessments do not compare apples with apples. For example, public companies do not have to pay for the acquisition of public land. Also, they are not subject to corporate income tax (taxe professionnelle) or property tax (redevance pour occupation du domaine public). Both factors reduce the costs of public companies compared to private companies without providing an economic benefit, since the higher costs of private companies are channeled back to the public treasury. In addition, a study by the research institute INRA showed that the municipalities with the most difficult conditions tend to delegate service provision to the private sector, thus biasing the comparison of tariff levels. Among the conditions driving municipalities to seek private sector participation are the classification in an ecologically sensitive zone implying stricter wastewater treatment standards and a lower population density implying a longer network per customer.
Competition Still according to Katherine Varin, the three large private water companies are in a stronger negotiation position than the municipalities, thus leading to regulatory capture
Regulatory capture
In economics, regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as...
. According to her there is almost no real competition in the sector: about 90% of contracts are renewed with the same concessionaire. A 2003 report by the French Supreme Audit Agency (Cour des Comptes) on water and sanitation in France covering the period 1995-2002 confirms that in 1999, six years after the Loi Sapin strengthened competition, 85% of contracts were still renewed with the incumbent. The Cour des Comptes noted that many municipalities, including some large ones, do not have the capacity to control the private sector contracts, in particular unjustified increases of certain fees. The municipalities do not use the numerous legal instruments at their disposal to better control the lease contracts they sign.
Transparency The annual financial reports submitted by the private enterprises to the municipalities are often not very transparent. For example, the Cour des Comptes noted that these reports cannot be compared to the financial projections submitted during contract negotiation, because they are established on different bases.
In some cases, private water companies also use accounting tricks to increase their profit margin. The Cour des Comptes noted that revenues from ancillary activities, such as the sale of bulk water to neighboring municipalities or electricity sales from hydropower production, are sometimes omitted from the financial reports to the municipalities. Furthermore, some operators cover fees for a “renewal guarantee” without fully reinvesting the proceeds. These revenues thus constitute a net gain for the operator at the end of the contract. Also, water companies are allowed to carry out works through their own subsidiaries without selecting them according to the local government regulations for competitive bidding. Finally, large utilities can manipulate transfer prices, thus making their finances even more intransparent to municipal regulators.
"One-way street" It is difficult to recreate public municipal companies, so that privatization becomes de facto a one-way street for many municipalities.
Campaign financing and corruption Private water utilities have been used as a vehicle for financing election campaigns and other political activities, leading to corrupt practices despite several laws passed to prevent corruption in the 1990s, such as the Loi Sapin. Some municipal associations, such as in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, have sued private operators leading to the cancellation of contracts and to a prison sentence against the mayor of Grenoble in 1996.
Measures to strengthen competition and to fight corruption
Loi Sapin In January 1993 the French Parliament approved the Sapin Law (Loi Sapin) concerning the prevention of corruption and on the "transparency of economic life and public procedures". It received its name from Michel Sapin
Michel Sapin
Michel Sapin is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Indre department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Biography:...
, the Socialist Minister of Economy and Finance at the time. A study by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, carried out by the consultancy TNS Sofres in 2006, showed the following impact of the law in the water and sanitation sector:
- the average price paid to private operators declined by 9%
- the average duration of contracts (gestion déléguée) has been reduced to 11 years
- the average number of bids by private operators for a given contract has increased from 2.6 to 4.5
However, it also noted that the decline in payments to private operators has not been passed on to consumers, because it is partially or fully compensated by increases in local taxes.
Other measures In 2001 the Association of French Mayors has developed a standard contract for water supply and sanitation services that aims at strengthening the position of municipalities vis-à-vis private operators.
In 2002 the Association of French Mayors, the Assembly of French Departments, the Association of French Regions and the Institut de la Gestion Déléguée (IGD) signed a "Charter of Local Public Services". In the charter these entities commit themselves, among others, to the free choice of management models and the reversibility of these choices; objective comparisons between management models; to ensure transparency of costs and to equitably share gains in performance; and to strengthen local democracy and independent evaluations. In order to facilitate objective comparisons through benchmarking, performance indicators should be developed and an Observatory of Local Public Services should be created to monitor the indicators. In 2004 IGD issued a draft document containing 10 proposed performance indicators for water supply and sanitation. Six years later, the observatory has not been created. However, private water companies have collected and published for the first time indicators about their performance in 2008. A decree of May 2007 requires public service providers to provide the same information on service quality to the public that has been provided by private service providers, beginning in 2008.
Tariffs
According to a 2003 study by the French Supreme Audit Agency (Cour des Comptes), the complexity of water tariffs makes them difficult to understand for users despite efforts to improve the presentation of water bills. The agency also states that flat-rate tariffs that are not linked to consumption levels still persist, although the 1992 water law aimed at linking water tariffs to consumption.
International comparison of tariff level According to a study by NUS consulting, in 2007 the average residential water and sanitation tariff for the five largest cities in France was € 2.92 per cubic meter for a consumption of 120 cubic meters per connection and year. This was lower than the average of 11 EU countries in the same year, which was € 3.25 per cubic meter. According to the same study tariffs were highest in Denmark (€ 5.63/m3) and Germany (€ 5.09/m3).
However, for commercial tariffs the picture is somewhat different. According to another study by NUS consulting the average water tariff (without sanitation) in France for a consumption of 10,000 cubic meters pere year was the equivalent of US$ 1.58, the 5th most expensive out of the 14 countries considered in the study. In the 14 mainly OECD countries tariffs excluding VAT
Vat
Vat or VAT may refer to:* A type of container such as a barrel, storage tank, or tub, often constructed of welded sheet stainless steel, and used for holding, storing, and processing liquids such as milk, wine, and beer...
varied between US$ 0.66 per cubic meter in the United States and the equivalent of US$ 2.25 per cubic meter in Denmark.
According to a study commissioned by the German water industry association BGW in 2006, the picture is again somewhat different. This study does not compare tariffs per cubic meter, but average water bills. The average annual per capita water bill was 85 Euro in France, the same as in Germany (85 Euro), higher than in Italy (59 Euro) and lower than in England and Wales (95 Euro).
Comparison of annual water and sanitation bills per capita in four EU countries
| Water tariff | Sewer tariff | Total | |
| Germany | 85 Euro | 111 Euro | 196 Euro |
| England and Wales | 95 Euro | 93 Euro | 188 Euro |
| France | 85 Euro | 90 Euro | 175 Euro |
| Italy | 59 Euro | 40 Euro | 99 Euro |
Source: Metropolitan Consulting Group: VEWA - Vergleich europaeischer Wasser- und Abwasserpreise, 2006, p. 7 of the executive summary
Equalized costs net of subsidies and taking into account differences in service quality show a different picture: England and Wales have the highest tariffs, followed by France and Germany. Tariffs in Italy remain the lowest, even taking subsidies and differences in service quality into account.
Comparison of annual water and sanitation bills per capita in four EU countries taking into account subsidies and differences in service quality
| Water tariff | Sewer tariff | Total | |
| Germany | 84 Euro | 119 Euro | 203 Euro |
| England and Wales | 106 Euro | 138 Euro | 244 Euro |
| France | 106 Euro | 122 Euro | 228 Euro |
| Italy | 74 Euro | 85 Euro | 159 Euro |
Costs and affordability
In the year 2005- 46 % of water and sanitation tariffs were linked to water treatment and distribution;
- 37 % were linked to wastewater collection and treatment;
- 17 % corresponded to fees and taxes.
Fees are destined to the six water agencies at the basin level mentioned above. Taxes include a water consumption tax and VAT
Vat
Vat or VAT may refer to:* A type of container such as a barrel, storage tank, or tub, often constructed of welded sheet stainless steel, and used for holding, storing, and processing liquids such as milk, wine, and beer...
.
According to a study by the consulting firm BIPE drawing on national statistics the share of household expenditures devoted to water and sewer bills was 0.8% and the average annual water and sewer bill was 374 Euro per household in 2005.
Investment
Investments in water supply and sanitation were estimated at 5.6 billion Euro in 2007.In 2003 the Association of French Departments estimated that the renewal of the water supply distribution infrastructure alone would require investments of 53 billion Euro from 2004 to 2015 to replace 535,000 km of pipes (about 65% of the entire network). This corresponds to an average of 4.4 billion Euro per year or 80 Euro/capita/year.
Financing
Investments are financed from a variety of sources. In 2006 investments were financed by municipalities (58%), Water Agencies (18%), private water companies (13%) and subsidies from the Départements and regions (11%). The contribution by municipalities is fully financed from tariff revenues collected for water and sanitation services, as well as by substantial fees (part collectivité) paid by private operators to the municipalities (Euro 2bn in 2006, or 30% of the amount billed by private operators) for the costs of investments (service budget of the municipality). Only in the case of municipalities with less than 3,000 inhabitants some limited tax revenue (general budget) is used to finance water and sanitation investments. The basin agencies finance themselves through charges for water abstraction and wastewater discharge by utilities and industries.In rural areas, investment subsidies are available from the National Fund for the Development of Water Supply (Fonds National pour le Développement des Adductions d’Eau, FNDAE) This fund, created in 1954, is funded by a surcharge on all water bills (55% of funding) and by a share in the revenues of the public agency in charge of organizing horse race betting, the Pari Mutuel Urbain (45%). The FNDAE has an annual budget of 145m Euro. It is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and its departmental branches.
Decentralized international cooperation
Some municipalities and water agencies are engaged in international cooperation to improve access to water supply and sanitation in developing countries. As opposed to "centralized" international cooperation implemented by the French Development AgencyFrench Development Agency
French Development Agency is the French international development agency.The Agence Française de Développement is a public institution providing development financing...
or multilateral development bank
Multilateral Development Bank
A multilateral development bank is an institution, created by a group of countries, that provides financing and professional advising for the purpose of development. MDBs have large memberships including both developed donor countries and developing borrower countries...
s, in France this form of aid is called decentralized cooperation. In 2002 the Court of Audit of France condemned decentralized cooperation by water agencies as contrary to their objectives. In response, the conservative member of Parliament André Santini
André Santini
André Santini is a French politician, mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux, Hauts-de-Seine.A former member of the UDF, he did not support François Bayrou, the candidate of his party for the first round of 2007 French presidential election, choosing instead to support Nicolas Sarkozy.After the election, he...
, President of the Council of the Water Agency for Seine-Normandie and President of SEDIF, the utility in charge of water supply in the region of Paris, introduced a law passed in 2005 named after himself and former Senator Jacques Oudin. The Loi Oudin-Santini allows water agencies and municipal water companies to spend up to 1% of their budget on international cooperation. According to the NGO psEau the law could mobilize up to Euro 100 million. However, far from all water companies make use of the option provided by the law. The NGO s-eau-s criticized the law, because it allegedly promotes the "export of the French water management model" and the "conquest of markets by big French water companies".
Efficiency (Water losses)
According to a study commissioned by the German water industry association BGW water losses in the distribution network in France have been estimated at an average 26 percent, compared to only 7 percent in Germany, 19 percent in England/Wales and 29 percent in ItalyThe study states that its methodology allows for an accurate comparison, including water used to flush pipes and for firefighting. This is consistent with the International Water Association's definition of non-revenue water
Non-revenue water
Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...
, which includes authorized non-metered consumption such as for flushing and firefighting.
According to a 2002 study by the Association of French Departments, non-revenue water was actually slightly higher and stood at 28%.
External links
- Urban Waste Water Treatment in France - Système d'information géographique du ministère sur l'asssainissement collectif, 2010
- Centre d'Information sur l'Eau, a not-for-profit organization set up by the major private water companies in France to provide better informatin to consumers on water
- Fédération professionnelle des entreprises de l'eau
- Institut de la Gestion Déléguée
- Fédération Nationale des Collectivités Concédantes et en Régie (FNCCR)
- partenariat français pour l'eau
- Office national de l’eau et des milieux aquatiques
French private water companies
- Veolia Environnement(ex-Compagnie Générale des Eaux)
- SUEZ Environnement (ex-Compagnie Lyonnaise des Eaux)
- SAUR
- Alteau, a regional operator with its main areas of operation in the Rhône-AlpesRhône-AlpesRhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
and Centre-AuvergneAuvergne (région)Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...