On Thursday, Slovenia amended its constitution to declare access to drinking water a fundamental right for all citizens and to prevent its commercialization, agencies report. Lawmakers voted in favor of the amendment “everyone has the right to drinking water” with 64 votes in a 90-seat parliament.
– Water resources represent a public good managed by the state. Water resources are primarily and permanently used to supply citizens with drinking water and households with water and in this sense are not a market commodity – states the addition to the Slovenian constitution.
Slovenia is the first EU member state to define the fundamental right to water in its constitution, according to data from the Rampedre project, the authors of the “World Report on the Right to Water”; so far, only 15 countries worldwide have done so.
