A View from the Outside: What Italy Can Learn and Teach in the Field of Water Policy

Abstract

In the Renaissance, Italy brought to Europe the re-invention of Roman law as applied to water, and it kept its surface waters as common pool resources, thus allowing the existence of irrigation communities which were models for Europeans in the nineteenth century. More recently, political decentralisation made it difficult for the Country to develop river basin institutions before they were adopted at European level with the Water Framework Directive. So, it was rather in the area of water supply and sanitation services that the most important reforms were adopted. However, these sparked a struggle between proponents, who took inspiration from the English privatisation and tariff regulation, and opponents, who claimed that water should remain a local issue and a common good. As the public-versus-private debate goes on at global level, there is in Europe a variety of management models for both water resources and water services, which could inspire Italy in finding its own way towards a sustainable water policy.