At the Heart of Power

In Paris, where the concern is based, another story is being told. The City of Paris and more than one hundred other French local authorities have decided to retrieve control of the life elixir water. When the contracts with Veolia run out, these vital services must go back into the hands of public administration.
Paris, therefore, becomes particularly important: the contracts with Veolia and Suez expire at the end of 2009. In November 2008, the deputy mayor and chairwoman of "Eau de Paris", Ann Le Strat announced that by the 1st of January 2010 the city would take back full public control of the water supply. In the trade magazines, the elegant Green politician is already compared to Maggie Thatcher. Whereas the Iron Lady helped to bring about the era of neoliberalism, in a world where the trend is towards privatisation of public services, Ann Le Strat shows the way back to communal service.

How come that more and more communes are severing their ties with Veolia & Co. in the native land of that multinational group?