44. Notes that countries across the EU, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Italy, have seen the potential or actual loss of public ownership of water services become a major issue of concern to citizens; recalls that the choice of method of water management is based on the subsidiarity principle, as laid down in Article 14 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in Protocol (No 26) on services of general interest, which highlights the special importance of public services for social and territorial cohesion in the Union; recalls that water supply and sewerage enterprises are services of general i ...[+++]nterest and have the general mission of ensuring that the entire population is provided with high quality water at socially acceptable prices and minimising the negative environmental impacts of waste water;

44. Notes that countries across the EU, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Italy, have seen the potential or actual loss of public ownership of water services become a major issue of concern to citizens; recalls that the choice of method of water management is based on the subsidiarity principle, as laid down in Article 14 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in Protocol (No 26) on services of general interest, which highlights the special importance of public services for social and territorial cohesion in the Union; recalls that water supply and sewerage enterprises are services of general i ...[+++]nterest and have the general mission of ensuring that the entire population is provided with high quality water at socially acceptable prices and minimising the negative environmental impacts of waste water;

Other follow-up actions have focused on improving transparency and benchmarking of water quality and services, as well as contributions to access water and sanitation in the context of development cooperation and sustainable development.

The Commission is also prepared to promote a more structured dialogue between stakeholders – bringing together public and private service operators − and to cooperate with existing initiatives[33] to provide a wider set of indicators and benchmarks for water services.

EU water policy is based on the principle that affordability of water services is critical.

Furthermore, the EU is the biggest donor to humanitarian action in the WASH sector, now allocating around 200 million EUR each year to ensure timely and dignified access to sufficient and safe water services for populations threatened by on-going or imminent humanitarian crises.