f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 1 Mr Dominique LEFEBVRE Mayor of CERGY, president of Comunity of cities of CERGY PONTOISE Mr Sylvain ROTILLON ONEMA (National agency for water and aquatic environments) The French mix between regulation and other drivers

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 2 The French mix between regulation and other drivers Regulation: French legal framework water specific – Responsible bodies (RBs): the municipalities France: 63.2 M inhab (2006) DW supply and WW services: a legal obligation for the mayor Possibility to cooperate  transfer of competence to various forms of cooperation DW utilities and WW utilities a very « low territorial level » for RBs – advantages : decison makers very close to users, high degree of accountability and democracy – inconveniences: poor degree of mutualisation ? not the technical / managerial optimal size ?

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 3 French regulation: general framework Geogr level International Regional Federal (eg: EU) State nat. govt & agencies BO basin org Sub national (Regions, Department) Regulation - mandatory requirts -compliance checking governance social PPPs structure of tarifs Compliance checking NO unique water regulator EU laws lay down most of the mandatory requirements on quality issues: Water framework dir., DW dir., Urban WW treatment dir French laws and regulations set the general legal frame for the organisation and the management of water utilities Several State Depts in charge: Environment, Health, Interior, Finance,… and a new national agency (ONEMA) for data collection, benchmarking and reporting 6 public basin authorities (Water agencies) Promote integrated water resources managt. Develop basin masterplans and objectives Perceive taxes and give subsidies 100 « Prefets » (State representants) Regional public accounting chambers

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 4 French regulation (water specific) (1) differents tools for efficiency improvement – A system of mandatory reports and PIs : SISPEA annal public report from the head of responsible body a set of mandatory performance indicators (PIs) See below p. – Possibility for the RB to introduce direct competition through PPP contracting (p.5) – mandatory mechanisms for transparency and accountability (p. 6)

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 5 French regulation (water specific) (2) Legal mandatory provisions for tarification – In France all connections to DW network are metered – Tarifs must take into account metered volumes NO fixed charge for unlimited consumption, – « Fixed blocks » are limited to part of total charge – Accountability: « mayor’s report » (see p. Y) must include a « virtual » bill for 120 m3 / connexion/y in order to facilitate comparisons

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 6 French regulation (water specific) (3) Possibility for the RBs to contract PPPs – NOT an obligation – A public, transparent and inclusive procedure (laid down by « Sapin Law » 1993) – a procedure in 2 steps in the « municipal council » A first public debate and decision on the principle of contractinfg or not a PPP for the management of utility A transparent procedure of consultation, selection and finalisation of PPP, with a specific commission including the political minority – Key issues of PPPs are legally regulated : duration, some financial items, transfer of employees, average current duration ~ 11 years, – Tarifs (prices) are not the only criteria for assessing offers

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 7 transparency and accountability Whatever the type of management direct (« régie ») or contracted with PPP Head of RB (mayor…) must present and publish an annual report about the price and quality of the service provided Head of RB must install a consultative committee dedicated to local public services CCSPL « mayor’s report » discussed with CCSPL together with objectives and strategy of the water utility

f WWF5 Istanbul session p. 8 Regulation, drivers and transparency: the French mix Geogr level International Regional Federal (eg: EU) State nat. govt & agencies BO basin org Sub national (Department) Municipalities Regulation - mandatory requirts -compliance checking water utilities resp. bodies RBs recomm. guidelines standards PIs ( perf ind) benchmark Financial -incentives -aids -penalties Users’ Involvement -policy -monitoring Quality ( EU directives: WFD, DWD, UWTD) governance social PPPs structure of tarifs Compliance checking CCSPL Basin Comm CNE CC SISPEA NF-P WHO guidelines ISO 2451x SISPEA (Nat syst of Pis) « Mayor’s report » Basin Water agencies Taxes subsidies FR laws « Départements » subsidies RBs (DW / WW)