This paper is about public utilities and new participative reform approaches. ?Public utility’ is defined as a company of private law status, such as Limited, GmbH, SA, etc. These enterprises are not owned by private agents, but by public authorities. They are charged with Service of General Interests (SGI), like water, electricity, public transport, waste collection, etc. But with the dissemination of public utilities the danger of corruption has grown, because democratic control of local councilors was limited by companies’ private law status.
The abstract proposes a paper based on the hypothesis that, for public utilities, pure reforms of anti-corruption are not sufficient to install a new administrative culture in public utilities. Public utilities have to respond to a double task: economic efficiency and common wealth. Therefore, anti-corruption measures must be accompanied by instruments of consumers’ control and democratic opening.
The current paper illustrates this hypothesis, showing evidence of a research project that analyzed nearly a dozen public utilities on water delivery in Europe. The study integrates examples from Germany, France, Spain, and Great Britain. Initial research was undertaken at Berlin’s Centre Marc Bloch in 2009. Currently, a new project conducted at Potsdam University gives continuation to this approach.
