Colonialism
in the 21st century
As part of the bailout agreement in July
2015, the Syriza government had to agree to the establishment of the Hellenic
Company for Assets and Participation (HCAP), also referred to as the Superfund.
Approved by the Greek parliament in September 2016, this Superfund includes all
major public companies including the water companies of Thessaloniki and
Athens. The government claims that transferring 51 per cent of these companies
into the Superfund would not contradict the legal ruling of the Council of
State that privatisation was unconstitutional. On the contrary, it is claimed
that the public ownership of these companies would be secured for the
foreseeable future as a result of this manoeuvre. As activists made clear to
me, however, when looked at more closely, this is highly questionable.
First, while it is correct that three
members of the five member Supervisory Board are appointments by the Greek
government, they require the approval of the European Stability Mechanism and
the Troika, consisting of European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF.
Moreover, two members are appointed by the European Stability Mechanism, one of
whom is the Director of the Supervisory Board. Here, only the Greek finance minister has to
countersign the appointment. Considering that the two external members of the
Board in practice enjoy a veto over any decisions taken, it is clear that Greek
economic sovereignty is severely undermined.
This is compounded by the fact that the
Superfund is given the task to generate profits, the distribution of which is
highly circumscribed. 50 per cent of the profits are earmarked for paying off
Greek national debts, while the remaining 50 per cent are due to be invested in
the companies of HCAP as well as the Greek economy more generally. Of course,
these investment decisions are subject to the control by the two external,
non-Greek members of the Supervisory Board.
The
prospect of privatisation looms large, because the Superfund ‘as mentioned in
Article 184 para. 4, “does not belong to the public or broader public sector,
in the way that each is defined”’ (SAVE GREEK WATER 2016). Companies in
the Superfund are not in the direct ownership of the state. ‘The Fund and its
assets will be under professional management at arm's length from the State’ (European
Stability Mechanism 2018: 40). And while privatisation is not the
only stated method of the Superfund, it is clearly part of its tools. As the
Commission responded to a question by the European Parliament in August 2017, ‘HCAP will fulfil its purpose via monetising the assets
it owns through privatisation and other means, one possible example of the
latter being a constant dividend stream from the assets’ (European Commission 2017).
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| Support for public water by the Svolou neighbourhood project in Thessaloniki. |
‘This is the most
radical economic experiment since the early 1970s under Pinochet in Chile of
how the economy of a country is put under the control of international
organisations’, argues Stefanos (not real name), a Thessaloniki water activist.
‘We are being colonised by outside forces’ agrees Eleni (not real name), who
has spent the last six years of her live fighting against the privatisation of
Greek water. ‘We are no longer in charge of our own economic affairs’.
Continuing
struggles of resistance
I asked my interviewees about the
turnaround of the Syriza government in July 2015, when it accepted the new
bailout agreement with its draconian conditions only one week after an
overwhelming ‘Oxi’ referendum against further austerity (The
Guardian, 5 July 2015). Some point out that they had never had much hope in
Syriza in the first place. There was always a likelihood that they would simply
become another social democratic party. Others, however, speak about a big
shock, a massive disillusionment. It is clear now for Greek activists that they
cannot hope for change through the political system of representative
democracy.
And yet, water activists have by no
means given up. From the time of the referendum in Thessaloniki in May 2014, there has always
been a large alliance of different groups opposed to water privatisation. This
has resulted in two initiatives, currently running in parallel. First, there is
the campaign ‘Not also the water’. It includes the trade union of the
Thessaloniki water company EYATH, the social movement SOS te to Nero, the
association of the 11 affected municipalities, SOS Halkidiki and Callisto, an environmental organisation. Moreover, it is also supported by the Water
Warriors assembly. It thus brings together the water workers with consumer
interests, local municipalities as well as environmental concerns. Two key
demands are on its agenda. First, it focuses on organising 100 events around
the fourth anniversary of the 2014 referendum with the objective to inform
citizens and to encourage them to become actively involved in the campaign.
Second, the alliance emphasises the importance of including the human right to
water into the Greek constitution. Additionally, there is currently a court
case lodged with the Council of State against the transfer of 51 per cent of
the shares of EYATH and EYDAP into the Superfund, a ruling on which is expected
in the middle of May this year.
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| Poster by the Water Warriors |
Another alliance of mainly cooperatives
has formed around the group K136, which aims at
buying up 24 per cent of the shares of the Thessaloniki water company together
with the municipalities as a first step towards transforming the company into a
full blown cooperative (K136 2018). 25 per cent
of the shares of EYATH are currently traded on the stock exchange, 51 per cent
are in the Superfund, while the final 24 per cent are now due for open sale and
the government has made clear that this could also include municipalities as
buyers. It is those 24 per cent, K136 is focusing on. Two campaigns in parallel are
to some extent weakening the resistance. Yet, there is an agreement over
stopping the privatisation of water. The differences are only over how the
company should be run, once privatisation has been stopped. While the alliance
around ‘Not also the water’ leans towards more citizens’ and workers’
participation in the running of the public company, K136 wants to turn EYATH
into a cooperative.
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| Slums on the outskirts of Athens |
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| Illegal water connections in West Attica |
In Athens, Yannis and Panagiotis (not
their real names) show me around in the region of West Attica. Formerly a
productive industrial centre, West Attica is now one of the poorest areas in
the Greek capital, an industrial wasteland with people living in slums on the
outskirts of the city working as waste pickers. Here, water connections are often
illegal and nobody pays for the supply. Yannis and Panagiotis are members of
SEKES, one of the trade union groups within the trade union of the Athens water
company. SEKES was established in 2012 as a hybrid of traditional union and
social movement. Its main objective is not only to represent the more narrow
interests of workers at the workplace, but also to serve the community. Members
of SEKES understand themselves as workers as well as citizens. They regard water
as an essential commons, which everyone needs to survive. It must not be
privatised.
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| Athens water aqueduct |
Yannis casts his eyes over the large water
aqueduct ensuring the supply of five million citizens in Athens with high
quality drinking water. There is a clear sense of pride about what can be
achieved from within a public company. Panagiotis
makes clear that here in West Attica, no water worker will follow orders to
disconnect people from the supply, because they cannot pay their bills. ‘In a
starving society, it is our obligation not to cut such essential services as
water’, he declares. The economic situation in Greece may be dire. The
government may have caved in to creditors’ demands. Nevertheless, Greek
activists have not succumbed to the pressure. The fight goes on and water
privatisation is by far not a done deal yet.
Andreas Bieler
Andreas Bieler
Professor of Political Economy
University of Nottingham/UK
Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk
Personal website: http://andreasbieler.net
8 May 2018
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