"Our struggles aim at taking back control of the means of production from the hands of both transnational and national capital, in order to create free, sustainable and community controlled livelihoods based on solidarity and peoples' needs and not on exploitation and greed." (Manifesto of Peoples' Global Action)

The PGA network is a tool for co-ordination and inspires to dismantle the current system and create liveable alternatives. The fourth hallmark of the network speaks for itself: "...the construction of local alternatives by local people as answer to the actions of governments and corporations." We are a a long way from fulfilling this objective in the European context but paths in that direction are conceivable.

Crucially, we need to analyse and subsequently reject the current economic and political control over water resources, their allocation and distribution. Only then can we elaborate a vision of autonomous and self-governed social relations around water. A vision based on a multitude characterised by their specific situations: their natural water catchments, their socio-cultural contexts and new forms of social organisation. Together, we need to go beyond the situation of static resistance towards the active reclamation of our world and livelihoods.

During the last international PGA conference held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, participants from all over the world recognised that and created the "sustained campaigns". These are frameworks in which we can explore issues such as militarism, privatisation, self-determination, and alternative models to the capitalist system. So far, the groups involved in the European-wide network have not fully initiated these campaigns. However, there clearly is the urgent need to focus and guide our actions around water if we don't want to stay put while politicians, CEOs and NGOs mess about with water resources and perpetuate capitalism.

But what do we do and where are we at the moment?

Since the last summer, a series of workshops were held and a communication list (waterlists.riseup.net) was initiated. As a result, a lose network of people have started to organise around water. And one powerful option in discussion for the European context is to target bottled water. Bottled waters, like Evian, are straight-forward targets because they exemplifiy the final consequence of capitalism; The disappropriation and profit-maximisation of the most pristine sources of life, because water is life; The environmental destruction for human greed and luxury. As a consequence, groundwater is being depleted at incredible rates to fill the millions of blastic bottles and cans with which we quench our thurst, leaving behind a massive mountain of rubbish. The water business is greater in turn-over than oil, incredible but true, and well-known brands such as Evian or Perrier, both owned by Nestle, are the most prominent high-value sales, the diamonds in Nestle's portfolio, in a global water market that is dominated by transnational capital.

In the US, Nestle has already been taken up by direct action groups for its water mining practices and it needs to happen in Europe too. And what better occasion could there be than the G8 summit held in June 2003 at the very source: the city of Evian in France. Do we stand still while the powerful converge behind barbed wire, refresh on pristine spring water and strike the latest deals? Surely not. We should inform, mobilise and resist in order to build the foundations for alternatives.

A few initial ideas are given her in the hope to stimulate debate: We could hold direct actions at every supermarket, like disrupting bottled water sales, by distributing Evian bottles all over. In Michigan, US, this tactic was used as a decentralised, prolonged action involving local communities. People that normally do not come to protest felt empowered to engage in simple, collective civil disobedience that had a big impact. And we can target the bottling company during the G8 protests and "organise" free water for the demonstrations. Do we think trade unions at the Evian plant would support us in that beforehand? But most importantly, we can use such preparations and actions on the G8 summit in Evian to bring together direct action, analysis around water and sustained efforts to embark on the path towards "taking back control".

Recent development

I understand that there are already local groups that have started to inform the public about bottled water and the implications of power and money that comes along with it.