Shut off the water for unpaid is illegal and inhumane in France since 2013. Water is a human right
From Emmanuel POILANE
Directeur Général de France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand
Turn off the water in unpaid principal residence is illegal in France since 16 April 2013 This prohibition applies to all and all year. Water suppliers now seem to ignore the profound change in the law and continue to shut off the water in French families sometimes without notice, often without even seeking an arrangement. They arbitrarily deprive persons, mostly in precarious situations, a dignified life. To understand what it means to shut off the water in France, listen to this story from France Culture .. http://www.franceculture.fr/player/reecouter?play=4851040 Difficult to quantify the number of water per day cuts but there are many, as evidenced by calls for assistance received by the Coordination Water Ile de France since it published on its website an article written by Henri Smet, informing on the illegality of water cuts in France. Access to water is a fundamental right. The water stakeholders are constantly reminding us that we all share this humanist evidence. However, the economic obsession of our time causes them to become deaf to the protection of human dignity when it comes to talking about money. But turn off the water for unpaid is not an economic act, it is simply a violation of human rights. Shut off the water for unpaid is illegal and inhumane In modern Western society, the weight of the law is powerful while the weight of morality sometimes seems to have simply disappeared. Denouncing the water cuts in response to unpaid we highlight the excesses of our economic society that does not hesitate to put themselves outside the law until someone responds. But nobody is supposed to know the law. So instead of acting as if it did not exist, as if it was a mistake of the legislature, the water companies should have set an example, take into account and stop their cuts from the promulgation of the law. They did not, as evidenced by the requests back to us for several weeks now. Recall that the law says "Brottes" No. 2013-312 of 15 April 2013: "From November 1 of each year to 15 March of the following year, electricity suppliers, heat, gas can not proceed in a principal residence, interruption, including termination of the contract for non-payment of bills, provision of electricity, heat or gas to persons or families. These provisions apply to distributors water for all the water distribution throughout the year. " Since the adoption of the law "Brottes" and its application by Decree No. 2014-274 of 27 February 2014, the legislation is very clear: Water suppliers can not cut the water supply in a principal residence for grounds of non-payment. France Libertés and Coordination Water Ile de France require all the mayors of France-which remember are responsible for managing the water-to ensure that no residence in their territory would suffer water cutoff for non-payment of bills. France Libertés and Coordination Water Ile-de-France are asking water companies (including the three major water companies such as Veolia, Lyonnaise des Eaux and Saur) to stop all water cuts for unpaid France immediately. We also ask the mediator of the water to grab this issue for law enforcement. So that the claims will not remain unanswered, we call on all French citizens who are undergoing a water cutoff testify by completing the form available on the websites of France Libertés and Coordination Water Ile-de-France. Your testimony will act globally but you can also act individually. For that, immediately alert your mayor, your water provider, and / or social service applicant or sending a letter, you will find for download on sites France Libertés and Coordination Water Ile-de-France. Then call the operator in your area (shared, common or community water company Veolia, Lyonnaise des Eaux and SAUR) following proposed by France Libertés and Coordination Water Island France approach. We can act now to end all illegal water cuts for unpaid in France. Help us to enforce the law.
