CEWR adopted an opinion on the draft Law on Water Supply and Sewerage

The Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (CEWR, the Commission) adopted today a decision approving an Opinion on the draft Law on Water Supply and Sewerage (WSS, published on 11.04.2023 on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRRD) and on the Public Consultation Portal.

CEWR's opinion has been sent to the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, the Minister of Finance, as well as to the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Policy, Public Works and Local Self-Government, the Committee on Environment and Water, the Committee on Energy, as well as to the parliamentary groups in National Assembly.

On 30.11.2022, MRRB published for public consultations a previous draft of the EPA, for which EWRC adopted an opinion with its decision of 14.12.2022, which is published on EWRC's page and on the Portal for public consultations.

The review of the new draft of the EPA published on 11/04/2023 shows that, compared to the previous draft of 30/11/2022, an insignificant part of the vices and deficiencies found by EWRC have been removed. For this reason, the opinion of the Commission adopted on 14.12.2022 is relevant in its entirety to the new draft of the WS&V, which again does not achieve a long-term solution to the problems in the water and sanitation sector, which is required in the decision of the 44th National Assembly of 13.12.2019 Mr.

Due to the significant problems found in the texts of the draft law of an administrative, legal, technical and economic nature, EWRC cannot give specific proposals for revisions, as it considers that its complete revision is necessary. A serious public debate is imperative on the role and responsibilities of the main participants in the water supply sector - the independent regulator of the quality and prices of water supply services, the owners of public water supply systems and contractors, water supply operators and their owners (principals). So far, no such debate has been held. MRRB is the institution that, according to the current regulations, has the commitment to implement the state policy at the national level in the field of Water Supply and Sewerage.

The Commission considers that if the changes in the regulation of the water supply sector proposed in the project are accepted, the industry will be exposed to significant risks related to the implementation of control over the implementation of the approved business plans 2022-2026 and changes to the approved prices of water supply services for the period 2024-2026

In this regard, the Commission considers it necessary to remove from the draft law the provisions concerning the regulation of the quality and prices of water supply services, while preserving the powers of the independent regulator CEWR in the water supply sector, as they are currently regulated in the Law on the Regulation of Water Supply and sewerage services /LRWSSS/ and in the Energy Act. It is the Commission's view that such provisions be discussed and planned for implementation after the expiration of the current 2022-2026 regulatory period.

The Commission assesses that the most appropriate and expedient approach is to implement changes in the current legislation - the EPA and the Water Act, to reflect the practice of applying the currently existing requirements, both in relation to the regulatory regime implemented by CEWR and regarding the requirements for the owners (principals) of the water supply operators, the owners of the public water supply networks and facilities, the contractual requirements between the owners and operators of the water supply infrastructure. This will allow the respective responsibilities to be distinguished and their functions not to overlap.