Veolia

Introduction

Considering itself globally as the 'benchmark in environmental solutions' Veolia provides services in four key areas. Water cycle management, waste recovery and recycling, energy efficiency and transportation of people and goods. Globally, in all sectors, they employ nearly 320000 people. In water they are the second biggest supplier of water and wastewater services in the world. Clearly they are a vast global concern, providing essential servives right in countries across the globe. Helped by the unique system in France, which saw municipalities often outsource essential public services out to the private sector, they were in prime position to take advantage of the neo-liberal revolution that advocated and then practiced outsourcing from the public to private sector and partnership between the two. As an implicit and explicit consensus took hold: private was good and dynamic and the public was bad and stagnant.

In water Veolia advances the view that they are best placed to manage the diverse and increasing demands for water. They recognise that agriculture, industry and domestic needs - population growth and rapid urbanisation are both burgeoning - all have competing needs for water. In their annual report for 2007 Its implicitly clear they proclaim themselves as best placed to manage these competing interests, through their technolgical expertise, ability and resources . They dont mention costing as a mechanism to manage these interests. This is however the dominant policy prescription articulated by all the main actors in the water sector. By placing in price adequate tariffs usage will be regulated, so the argument goes at anyway.

Water: Key figures

• €10,927.4 million in revenue
• 60 operating countries
• 82,867 employees
• 78 million people provided with water service
• 53 million people provided with wastewater service
• More than 4,400 contracts managed around the world .