Greece's parliament passed a water reform bill on Thursday that overhauls the country's two main public water utilities,...

Greece's parliament passed a water reform bill on Thursday that overhauls the country's two main public water utilities, EYDAP and EYATH, with 157 lawmakers voting in favor and 131 against. The legislation, introduced by the Ministry of Environment and Energy, restructures how water is managed across the country and expands the reach of the two publicly controlled utilities into areas currently served by private networks. Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou made the case for urgent action, telling parliament that Greece loses between five and six out of every ten drops of water due to aging infrastructure and leaks. He noted that Greece ranks 19th globally for drought risk and second among EU countries for water stress, and said the current system, which involves 735 separate management bodies, has reached its limits. Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis pushed back hard against opposition claims, calling accusations of privatization "an unfounded and false argument." He said the reform actually strengthens public control by replacing private water operators in some regions with the state-backed EYDAP and EYATH, and pledged that water prices would not rise further, pointing out that Greece already has the cheapest water in Europe. Opposition parties were not convinced. PASOK's Manolis Christodoulakis questioned whether the government would back constitutional protections for water as a public good, and asked for guarantees that bills would not increase. Other parties from across the opposition described the bill as a potential back door to privatization, warning about long-term cost increases and reduced public accountability over a resource they consider a basic social right. The government acknowledged serious problems in the existing system, including settlements with no water access at all and ongoing investigations in areas such as Sithonia and Volvi over water management failures. #Greece #WaterReform #GreekPolitics