Abstract
Water services in Central and Eastern European countries have experienced important transformation processes since the 1990s. After a first wave of wholesale reforms of the economic systems after the collapse of the Soviet Union (decentralization and private sector involvement), more recent reforms try to address specific water-related challenges which many countries in the region encounter on their way to EU accession. To tackle issues like rising tariffs, low quality and performance, limited access, and insufficient infrastructure maintenance, the creation of dedicated regulatory bodies and that of aggregation reforms have been two key reform approaches.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In this chapter we use CEE to refer to the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine. While not all countries in CEE were part of the Soviet Union or the Eastern Bloc, for example, socialist Yugoslavia and its successor states, the close political and economic integration had strong effects on all countries in the region.
- 2.
See Savedoff and Spiller (1999), for an in-depth presentation of the concept of low-level equilibria in the water sector.
- 3.
Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the Community action in the field of water policy.
- 4.
Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption.
- 5.
Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment.
- 6.
Different donor institutions have applied different thresholds for assessing affordability constraints of utility services, including electricity, heating, water, and wastewater. An excellent overview of these thresholds is provided in Fankhauser and Tepic (2005, 5). For water and wastewater, 3% to 5% of total income is the typically applied benchmark to assess an affordability constraint.
- 7.
This role of regulatory bodies can be considered in the framework of strategic delegation, where politicians decide on certain “unpopular” tasks to be delegated to a bureaucrat (see Alesina and Tabellini 2008).
- 8.
The International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNet) is an initiative to encourage water and sanitation utilities to compile and share a set of core cost and performance indicators and thus meet the needs of various stakeholders. It sets forth a common set of data definitions and a minimum set of core indicators and provides software to enable easy data collection and calculation of the indicators. It also provides resources to analyze data and present results.
References
Alesina, A., & Tabellini, G. (2008). Bureaucrats or Politicians? Part II: Multiple Policy Tasks. Journal of Public Economics, 92(3), 426–447.
Carvalho, P., Marques, R. C., & Berg, S. (2012). A Meta-regression Analysis of Benchmarking Studies on Water Utilities Market Structure. Utilities Policy, 21, 40–49.
Council of Europe. (2009). The Relationship Between Central and Local Authorities. Report of the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR). Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.migm.gov.tr/AvrupaKonseyi/Ek41.pdf.
De Ceuninck, K., Reynaert, H., Steyvers, K., & Valcke, T. (2010). Municipal Amalgamations in the Low Countries: Same Problems, Different Solutions. Local Government Studies, 36(6), 803–822.
European Commission. (2016). Comparative Analysis of the Implementation of Cohesion Policy Programmes 2007–2013. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/de/policy/evaluations/data-for-research/.
Foster, V. (2005). Ten Years of Water Service Reform in Latin America: Toward an Anglo-French Model. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
Klien, M., & Michaud, D. (2016). Utility Consolidations: Review of Existing Evidence and Lessons from Central and Eastern Europe. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Kruijf, J. V., Dinica, V., & Augustijn, D. (2009). Reorganization of Water and Waste Water Management in Romania: From Local to Regional Water Governance. Environmental Engineering & Management Journal (EEMJ), 8(5), 1061–1071.
Maslyukivska, O., Sohail, M., & Gentry, B. (2003). Private Sector Participation in the Water Sector in the ECA Region: Emerging Lessons. Final Report. World Bank.
Meyer, K. E. (2003). Privatisation and Corporate Governance in Eastern Europe: The Emergence of Stakeholder Capitalism. Keynote-address Chemnitz East Forum. March 19–22.
OECD. (2009). Dealing with Post-Decentralisation Implications in the Water Sector: Based on Country Experience Cases. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2015). The Governance of Water Regulators, OECD Studies on Water. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264231092-en.
Regional Environmental Center. (2009). Strategies for Reform—A Manual for Water Utilities in South Eastern Europe. Szentendre, Hungary: Regional Environmental Center.
Savedoff, W., & Spiller, P. (1999). Spilled Water: Institutional Commitment in the Provision of Water Services. Inter-American Development Bank.
Swianiewicz, P. (2010). If Territorial Fragmentation Is a Problem, Is Amalgamation a Solution? An East European Perspective. Local Government Studies, 36(2), 183–203.
World Bank. (2003). Private Sector Participation in the Water Sector in the ECA Region: Emerging Lessons. Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Bank. (2015). Water and Wastewater Services in the Danube Region: A State of the Sector. Regional Report, May.
World Bank. (2017). Joining Forces for Better Services? When, Why and How Water and Sanitation Utilities Can Benefit from Working Together. WSS GSG Utility Turnaround Series, June.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Klien, M., Salvetti, M. (2019). CEE. In: Porcher, S., Saussier, S. (eds) Facing the Challenges of Water Governance. Palgrave Studies in Water Governance: Policy and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98515-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98515-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98514-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98515-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)