Copa do Mundo de 2018: gol das empresas privadas de saneamento no Brasil

Abstract

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian Administration issued an Executive Order (MP) that substantially altered the regulatory framework for basic water and sewage utilities (MP n. 844/2018). According to the order, the purpose was "to improve the structural conditions for basic sanitation in the country" 1. The order was signed only a few hours before Brazil's last match, just under the binding deadline according to election-year rules, with the condition that Congress ratify it within 45 days. Opposition to the order drew a broad range of interest groups in the utilities industry. States and municipalities promised to challenge the Executive Order in court, on grounds that it violates the Constitution, and also because they had not been properly consulted. Of all the representative organizations from the sector, only the private companies seemed to be happy with the order. The Brazilian Association of Private Water and Sewage Utility Companies (ABCON) 2 and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) 3 defended the measure publicly, claiming that it encourages the expansion of private enterprise in the sector. They stated that they intended to help Congress "approve the best possible wording for society and the productive sector" 3. Based on this, the new law has been dubbed the "Executive Order for Privatization of Water and Sewage". The main changes proposed by the order relate to the industry's regulation and contracts on concessions for water and sewage utilities. Briefly, it specifies the National Agency of Water (ANA, for its acronym in Portuguese) as responsible for standardizing the regulation of basic water and sanitation services nationwide and eliminates mandatory municipal sanitation plans as a condition for hiring utility companies. More controversially, the order applies to program contracts (the instrument for collaboration between different levels of government, or between government agencies and public consortia, for common public utilities) the essential clauses for concession contracts provided in Law n. 8,987/1995. Let us see what this involves. National Agency of Water At present, public water and sewage utilities in Brazil are regulated by the municipalities (cities), which can delegate them to specialized agencies. Under the Executive Order, ANA issues the national standards for regulation of public water and sewage services by their owners and the respective regulatory and inspection agencies, conditioning access to federal funds on compliance with the