Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – A compromise on the operation of the Stuttgart water network between the municipality and an EnBW subsidiary does not materialize for the time being. The council’s management committee raised concerns on Wednesday evening. The administration will present a revised proposal at a later date, said a spokeswoman. The EnBW supervisory board had already given the green light for the agreement. The conflict over the water network has been smoldering for years.
According to the compromise, the state capital should have received an individually agreed right of first refusal if Netze BW Wasser GmbH or its parent companies are no longer majority publicly owned from Baden-Württemberg. In return, the city would have withdrawn the ongoing lawsuit for the surrender of the network and agreed a new 20-year concession contract with the subsidiary of Energie Baden-Württemberg.
In the course of the compromise, the municipality would have been granted a number of information and participation rights. In the future, there should be two supervisory board seats for the city in the company that operates the water network and they would also have been granted a blocking minority in the shareholders’ meeting there.
The dispute had dragged on for more than ten years, most recently before the Stuttgart Regional Court. The purchase price was disputed between the city and Netze BW. The main focus was on the assessment of the systems. The municipality filed a lawsuit in 2013.
