On 10 September 2009, the Municipality of Pratdip and the EUCC Les Planes del Rei signed an agreement regulating the billing and collection of drinking water and household waste.
On 22 July 2010, an enforceable judgment (the Fenouillet case) reaffirmed that the EUCC had no legitimacy to manage these services, which fall exclusively under the responsibility of the Municipality.
This continuity highlights a flagrant contradiction between the municipality’s practices and judicial decisions.
1) Context
- 2008: the TSJC recalled that the municipality remains responsible for minimum public services, despite the existence of the EUCC.
- 2009: signature of an agreement allowing the EUCC to continue billing for water and waste.
- 2010: the court declared the “Fenouillet” judgment enforceable, confirming that this delegation was illegal.
2) Analysis
Agreement of 10 September 2009
- Purpose: to organize the management, billing and collection of water and waste by the EUCC.
- Effect: the municipality institutionalized a delegation system contrary to the law.
- Consequence: residents remained subject to EUCC charges.
Enforceable Judgment of 22 July 2010
- Judicial confirmation: the EUCC has no legal competence to manage water and waste.
- Immediate execution: the municipality is directly obliged to take charge of these services.
- Invalidation: the 2009 agreement thus became null and void.
3) Consequences
- Residents are entitled to refuse to pay the EUCC for water and waste after 2010.
- The Municipality of Pratdip can no longer invoke the EUCC to evade its legal obligations.
- The contradiction between the 2009 agreement and the 2010 judgment illustrates the municipality’s bad faith and its refusal to assume its responsibilities.
