French water concessions

Private water concessions in France have been increasingly challenged, resulting in the re-municipalisation of the water supply in several cities, including Paris.

France, as home to the largest water companies globally - Veolia and Suez - is known as the heartland of private water concessions, having had large portions of its water supply under private control since the 19th Century.

However in recent years this model has been increasingly challenged, first with a corruption scandal in Grenoble that led to the re-municipalisation of the water supply in 2001.

This was followed by further re-municipalisations of the water supply in several cities, most notably Paris (which re-commenced with public water management in January 2010) due to cost-saving potential.

The re-municipalisation got off to a promising start - water tariffs were reduced by 8 percent in 2011 - and will no doubt be closely watched to see how it progresses.

As other commentators have produced a number of case studies on this topic we provide links to them here.

Brest
In April 2012 water supply switched to a new public company after the council decided not to renew a 25-year concession with Veolia because of transparency issues.
Corporate Europe Observatory

Castres
In 2003, the Mayor of Castres, France reversed a project initiated by one of his predecessors who in 1990 had illegally privatized the town’s water management services.
Corporate Europe Observatory

Communaute Urbaine de Cherbourg
In 2005 the partially privatised water services were re-municipalised following a comparative audit between the public management structure and Veolia, which found that the quality was found to be the same but the public service was cheaper.
Corporate Europe Observatory

Durance-Luberon
This early remunicipalisation has been in force since 1997. The main problem with the privatized services were the high water costs.
Corporate Europe Observatory

Grenoble
The most notorious French water privatisation, resulting in Grenoble's mayor, Alain Carignon, being imprisoned and the privatisation and the water tariffs being declared illegal by a French court.
Corporate Europe Observatory
and
Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) (doc)

Paris
Paris switched over to publicly run water system at the beginning of 2010 when its contracts with Veolia and Suez ran out. In spite of the obvious logistical difficulties of such a transition, it brought 15 percent savings the first year, and water tariffs were lowered by 8 percent in 2011.
Corporate Europe Observatory
and
Paris: An example of how local authorities regain control of water management (pdf) by Anne Le Strat, Deputy Mayor of Paris

Varages
During the 1990s, water services deteriorated following privatisation to a subsidiary of Suez. After more than 10 years of public complaints, in 2002 the contract was not renewed and the local administration has gradually taken over the service.
Corporate Europe Observatory