The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria&apos;s Roma settlements

Rosalina Babourkova

doi:10.1080/19463138.2010.511029

The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria's Roma settlements

Babourkova, Rosalina 2010-01-01 00:00:00 International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Vol. 2, Nos. 1–2, May–November 2010, 24–44 TJUE The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Rosalina Babourkova* Development Planning Unit, University College London, London, UK (Received 1 March 2010; final version received 28 July 2010) The study explores the environmental justice implications of the privatisation of utilities through the case of electricity supply in two Roma settlements in Bulgaria. A case-specific analytical framework for envi- ronmental justice is developed, combining three central notions of justice theory: distribution, recognition and participation. The legality of construction, equity in access and the presence of an accountable regula- tory regime are further identified as aspects of distribution important to the case. The study concludes that a sound regulatory environment and strong community organisation and representation are integral to ensuring that privatisation of utilities complies with the principles of environmental justice. Keywords: privatisation; utilities; environmental justice; Roma; transitional economies 1. Introduction of environmental injustices because the collapse of the socialist system in terms of inequitable Resolving justice issues in environmental matters access to quality housing and infrastructure is no easy task. Successive theorists and observers services. I argue that issues of distribution, rec- of the environmental justice movement have ognition and participation all play a role in the argued that no single liberal justice theory can settle way the inequitable distribution of electricity environmental disputes because of the multiple, has come about in the transition period, and in and often conflicting, justice perspectives that the the way it continues to be perpetuated by the parties concerned subscribe to (Wenz 1988; Liu now privatised utilities. Distributional inequi- 2001; Callewaert 2006; Schlosberg 2009). Envi- ties have been, to a significant extent, the result ronmental justice as a theory in the making seems of the informal status of Roma settlements and to be adopting a pluralistic understanding of justice Roma housing, the lack of a transparent and based on a combination of traditional distributive accountable utility regulatory regime and the justice theories and notions of political recognition organisational capacity of the Roma community and participation. Such a shift in the theoretical itself. thinking follows the real-world claims and per- spectives of environmental justice activists. In this article I explore the environmental justice 2. Case-specific analytical framework for the implications of the privatisation of public utilities study of environmental justice focusing on the electricity supply in the two largest Roma settlements in Bulgaria. The The following section outlines the evolution of Roma in Bulgaria have suffered from a number the environmental justice movement both in the *Email: rosalina.babourkova@ucl.ac.uk ISSN 1946-3138 print/ISSN 1946-3146 online © 2010 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/19463138.2010.511029 http://www.informaworld.com International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 25 United States and Europe and the parallel develop- for Investigating Title VI Administrative Com- ment of theories of justice relevant to the concept plaints Challenging Permits in 1998, supported by of environmental justice. Ultimately, a case-specific the USA Civil Rights Act of 1964. These federal analytical framework for the study of environ- initiatives demonstrate a rights-based notion of mental justice in the context of utility privatisation justice with emphasis on fairness, impartiality, is presented. equity and the right to participation in environ- mental decision-making (Callewaert 2006). European institutions have officially recog- 2.1. Environmental justice as a movement nised the environmental justice debate only in the In the United States, people of colour had been past decade, with the launch of the 1998 Aarhus organising around environmental issues at an Convention on access to environmental informa- unprecedented rate since the 1980s. In contrast to tion, public participation in decision-making and the mainstream environmental movement’s preoc- access to justice in environmental matters (Euro- cupation with ‘green agenda’ issues, they were pean Commission 2007). Although the European concerned about and engaged in collective action Union has issued a number of additional directives mobilisation for basic civil rights in areas of on environmental information and public participa- employment, housing, education and health care tion in environmental decision-making, environ- (Camacho 1998). One particular incident in the mental justice issues remain no more than a early 1980s became a symbol for people of col- marginal issue in European environmental politics. our’s struggle for environmental equity. In 1982, Environment protection and anti-discrimination the state of North Carolina decided to solve the efforts are hardly ever linked and there is a distinct problem of illegally dumped PCB-laced oil by lack of awareness about the distributive aspects of designating a state-owned PCB-landfill in Warren environmental justice (Schwarte and Adebowale County, a predominantly black community. For a 2007). decade, Warren County community activists Whereas in the United States, environmental mobilised around non-violent direct action strate- justice has been a diverse grassroots-driven move- gies to prevent the disposal of PCBs. Although ment that has acquired strength and power from initially unsuccessful, the campaign came to be of decades of numerous local protests, in Europe it national importance for environmental justice has been steered by a small number of academics, activists and eventually persuaded state officials to researchers and NGOs, particularly from the detoxify the site (Bullard 2005). United Kingdom, attempting to link environmen- The Warren County case demonstrates that tal justice to wider sustainability issues (Agyeman good mobilisation and persistent non-violent 2000; FoE 2001; Adebowale 2003; Agyeman et action can exert pressure on the state to rectify al. 2003; Agyeman and Evans 2004). The Eastern environmental injustices. The most significant European context, with its socialist legacy and tur- success of the US environmental justice movement bulent political and economic transformation in so far has been for environmental justice to the 1990s, poses particularly interesting questions receive official recognition as a federal policy for the study of environmental justice. Pavlinek concern, when in 1993 the Clinton administration and Pickles (2000) argue that the opposing images established the President’s Council on Sustainable of high consumerism and ‘bread and butter’ politics Development. Executive Order 12898 of 1994 that dominated the public sphere in the 1990s have created the Environmental Justice Advisory Council squeezed out environmental and social justice to the United States Environmental Protection considerations, preventing the formation of such Agency (USEPA) (White 1998). In a further effort movements. to establish an environmental justice policy frame- The first coordinated effort to build a plat- work, the USEPA presented the Interim Guidance form for the study of environmental justice in 26 R. Babourkova Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries balance of benefits over harms for society as a was again based in academia. The Center for whole. Although it requires that equal considera- Environmental Policy and Law (CEPL) at the tion be given to the interests of all people, regard- Central European University in Budapest, Hun- less of their race, religion, wealth or gender, gary, launched the Environmental Justice Pro- importance is placed on the aggregate effect. Utili- gramme (EJP) with the help and support of the tarianism espouses the current mode of production EU Programme of Community Aid to the Coun- and consumption, with the aim of maximising tries of Central and Eastern Europe (PHARE) overall happiness and preference satisfaction, but and the Open Society Institute (OSI). In 2006, without paying attention to inequality and inequity the EJP joined forces with the Health and Envi- in the political–economic system and without rec- ronment Alliance (HEAL) to investigate the ognising the fact that many preferences are artifi- health aspects of environmental injustices, the cial and irrational (Wenz 1988). Liu’s (2001) majority of which relate to disproportionate envi- critique of utilitarianism is that its quantification ronmental burdens borne by the Roma, the larg- techniques are far too flexible and subject to est minority group in CEE (Varga et al. 2002; manipulation by those in power, with the result Steger and Filcak 2008), and to generate a policy that some people win whereas others lose. Also, framework for environmental justice in Europe the idea of the greatest good for the greatest (Steger 2007). number of people does not provide justice for all. For one, it leaves the individual vulnerable to the demands of the greater good of others. Second, 2.2. Environmental justice as a theory when overall economic well-being is calculated as There is no consensus in the literature over what an average, economic wealth can be increased notions of justice should form the basis for envi- even as economic and social inequality is allowed ronmental justice theory. Traditionally, environ- to rise (Plionis and Plionis 2000). mental justice has been examined purely as a distributional concern. Three justice theories per- 2.2.2. Contractarianism tain in particular to environmental justice: utili- tarianism, contractarianism and libertarianism Contractarianism, on the other hand, is based on (Liu 2001; Callewaert 2006). I would also add John Rawls’ idea of the social contract, which rec- human rights theory, as discussed by Wenz ognises that political, economic and social institu- (1988), as a relevant theory to the present case tions determine, to a large extent, what an study. Similarly, there is no consensus over what individual’s life chances will be (Plionis and constitutes the environment in environmental Plionis 2000). The first defining principle of the justice theory. Although I generally agree with contractarian view is that ‘each person is to have Wenz (1988) and Schlosberg (2009) that the an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty scope of environmental justice should include compatible with similar liberty for others’ (Rawls animal rights and the rights of ecosystems, for 1973: 60). This is made theoretically possible, the purpose of this article, I limit the discussion Rawls argues, when individuals imagine them- to the above-mentioned human-centred notions selves behind a ‘veil of ignorance’, where everyone of environmental justice. would be equal in the grand scheme of things. That way, every person would develop a particularly fair notion of justice that everyone else would agree 2.2.1. Utilitarianism with. But Rawls’ assumptions that all rational In the utilitarian view, whose origins lie in the individuals are not envious and that they are able thinking of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, to overcome their personal biases does not hold justice is about achieving the greatest possible true in reality. Moreover, he designed his principles International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 27 of justice to govern people who live together libertarianism point out that property rights are within a single society, but did not concern him- seldom well and rightfully defined and that in real- self with issues of justice that arise between and ity force and fraud are a common tool in the among culturally and politically different societies acquisition of resources (Wenz 1988; Liu 2001). and communities (Wenz 1988). In addition, market failures prevent a significant Rawls’ difference principle holds that ‘social number of people from fulfilling their basic needs and economic inequalities are to be arranged so (Plionis and Plionis 2000). that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) attached to posi- 2.2.4. Human rights tions and offices open to all’ (Rawls 1973: 60). In contrast to the utilitarian view, distributive ine- A further theory that is very relevant to the quality cannot be used to widen the gap between human-centred notion of environmental justice is rich and poor, but must be used to make the least the concept of human rights. The concept can be well off in society as well off as possible. This traced back to John Locke who argued that people implies the need for a strong redistributive state, in have natural rights to life, liberty and property and the sense of the modern democratic welfare state. insisted that it is the duty of all governments to Also, inequalities of position and power should guarantee those natural or human rights as rights not be locked in for all time, but should be subject enshrined by law. Wenz (1988) differentiates to fair competition (Plionis and Plionis 2000). Locke’s human rights into positive and negative However, the many inequalities endemic to any rights. He defines negative human rights essen- society are related precisely to positions of power tially as Locke’s rights to non-interference in and employment and the unjust ways in which one’s life, liberty and property. Positive human they are acquired and maintained. rights, on the other hand, are based on Kant’s idea of the protection and development of human wel- fare as important goals of morality. The argument 2.2.3. Libertarianism for the existence of positive human rights is that The third notion of justice pertaining to environ- there is something very special, extraordinary and mental justice is libertarianism, which emphasises valuable about human beings, making every the importance of the free market, private prop- human being worthy of being treated with respect. erty, voluntary transactions and freedom for indi- Even though such rights are established in the viduals. The basic premise is that individuals United Nations Universal Declaration of Human should be allowed to do whatever they want in the Rights, signed by the majority of countries, their absence of force or fraud as long as they respect provision and protection is not guaranteed in prac- the equal right of others to do the same. State tice. To the extent that governments, for whatever intervention is only necessary to the extent of pro- reason, fall short in their duties, other people are tecting individual rights, freedom and property responsible for doing what they can to assist in the from force or fraud, but not for the purposes of provision of food, clothing, housing and medical redistribution (Wenz 1988). Justice is determined care to those in need. Despite the proliferation of by how the distribution came about, not by the local advocacy groups, international non-govern- nature of the distribution, in terms of its amount or mental organisations and international agree- allocation (Plionis and Plionis 2000). Libertarian ments advocating on behalf of those in need, both principles work well in disputes between individuals, negative and positive human rights are not well but fail to provide just solutions when a large respected in the world today. This is evident in number of people are affected, such as in instances cases of international terrorism, political oppres- of environmental pollution or the consumption of sion and conditions of malnutrition, inadequate collective goods such as air and water. Critics of housing and illiteracy (Wenz 1988). 28 R. Babourkova 2.3. Distributive versus participative notions hamper real participation in political and cultural of justice institutions. Shrader-Frechette (2002) is one of the few authors who pick up on that notion within the The theories of justice discussed so far are all environmental justice literature. The CEPL has about the distribution of environmental goods and also expanded the debate around environmental bads in society. A key problem with all those lib- justice from a focus on inequalities in the distribu- eral theories of justice is that they lack notions of tion of environmental ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ to respect and recognition. Schlosberg’s (2009) dis- include issues of access and participation in cussion of Iris Young and Nancy Fraser’s critique decision-making and defines environmental injus- of the emphasis on distribution within traditional tice as follows: justice theories is a case in point. One of the cent- ral concerns of both Young and Fraser is recogni- An environmental injustice exists when members tion and the lack of it in the social and political of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority or other realms, demonstrated by various forms of insults, groups suffer disproportionately at the local, degradation and devaluation at both individual and regional (sub-national), or national levels from cultural level. Lack of recognition constitutes environmental risks or hazards, and/or suffer dis- proportionately from violations of fundamental injustice, ‘not only because it constrains people human rights as a result of environmental factors, and does them harm, but also because it is the and/or denied access to environmental invest- foundation for distributive injustice’ (Schlosberg ments, benefits, and/or natural resources, and/or 2009: 14). The problem with recognition is that participation in decision-making; and/or access to the state cannot allocate it as it does, for example, justice in environment-related matters. (Steger 2007: 10) education or housing assistance. The state may set an example of recognising a socially demeaned group, but recognition must happen on a much 2.4. Conflicts in justice perspectives wider societal scale. The implication is that ‘the concept of justice as recognition moves beyond a Examining environmental injustice-related com- focus on the state alone for remedies and brings plaints, Callewaert (2006) identifies that key justice theory squarely into the political space bey- stakeholders (community, government and indus- ond the state’ (Schlosberg 2009: 23). try) hold conflicting conceptions of environmental Alongside recognition, Young and Fraser justice based on competing principles. Communi- emphasise a person’s membership and participa- ties generally espouse Rawls’ contractarian princi- tion in the greater community, including the polit- ples, such as equal right to basic liberties, when ical and institutional order as another central seeking to address environmental injustices dimension to the concept of justice. As Schlosberg through the legal system (Callewaert 2006). How- (2009) bluntly puts it ‘if you are not recognised, ever, the legal system would only ever be able to you do not participate; if you do not participate, remedy distributional issues. Schlosberg’s (2009) you are not recognised’ (p. 26). Following Young analysis, on the other hand, shows that both the and Fraser, Schlosberg argues that justice must global and US environmental justice movements focus on the political process, including demands advocate a version of justice not solely based on for more broad and authentic public participation, distributional principles, but with additional as a way to address both the inequitable distribu- emphasis on recognition and political participation tion of social goals and the conditions undermin- at both individual and community levels. A case in ing social recognition. In other words, it is not just point is the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice that political and cultural institutions create condi- developed at the 1991 First National People of tions that hamper equity and recognition, but that Colour Leadership Summit. This truly broad both distributive inequity and misrecognition statement covers not only protection from toxic International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 29 contamination, but also environmental policies that justice is best determined by the market and based on mutual respect and self-determination, that the market logic is what drives capital invest- and the right to participate as equal partners in ment decisions. However, the latter have social every level of decision-making (Shrader-Frechette and environmental impacts, which often relate in 2002). one form or another to issues of justice. From an State agencies, on the other hand, generally environmental democracy point of view, citizens follow the utilitarian perspective (Callewaert should, at the very least, be able to expect that 2006). In a representative democratic system, gov- investment decisions do not undermine public ernments are elected and authorised to manage environmental interest and minimally acceptable conflict in society. This could be done through standards of social justice. A democratic manage- government provision of collective goods and ment of economic activity implies the participation services and implies that government also has the of worker-citizen and community representatives capacity to withhold rewards and benefits for on company boards (Mason 1999). This presents a certain groups and individuals under the condition good opportunity to extend the notion of participa- of limited resources. As there is not enough of tive justice to the private sector. However, this what people want for everyone, each public policy also means that the private sector needs to view decision requires that some groups and individuals consumers/customers not purely as cash cows, but make sacrifices (Camacho 1998). In their pursuit also as citizens expecting accountable corporate of procedural justice with the goal of benefiting decisions. In countries with long-documented rac- the broader public good, government stakeholders ist history, such as South Africa, the privatisation often have no authority to deal with public com- of municipal services has failed low-income and plaints and concerns that fall outside procedures, mostly black communities not only in terms of rules and regulations. This often leaves com- their rights as citizens, but also in their rights as munity members feeling abandoned by the state in consumers. Private utility providers often refuse to their concerns about health and the environment serve poor (and mostly black) neighbourhoods (Callewaert 2006). where return on investment is not guaranteed Problems also arise if the government has (McDonald 2005). strong ties to and acts under the influence of elitist groups such as large businesses and corporations. 3. Case-specific analytical framework for the Such upper-class groups may hold what is essen- study of environmental justice in the context of tially public power to the extent that upper-class utility privatisation interests are a factor in all that public officials do, and where the working class and minority groups As Callewaert rightly concludes, justice cannot be have only marginal influence through the electoral solely left to the market, nor can it be relegated to system (Camacho 1998). In the context of envi- environmental rules and regulations. As none of ronmental justice, this means that minority com- the theories discussed adequately serve as a uni- munities are often victims of state officials turning fied framework to deal with environmental justice a blind eye to environmentally unjust industry issues, Callewaert and others suggest shifting practices, such as waste dumping near the homes away from a particular normative paradigm. In a of poor people of colour, to gain political or financial pluralist world of justice concepts, adopting any support. This could pose a particular problem in concept of justice will be seen as unfair to some- cash-strapped transitional or low-income countries body with a different understanding of justice (Liu where law enforcement is more lax and corruption 2001). Hence, I develop here a case-specific prevalent. framework for evaluating environmental justice in According to Callewaert (2006), private sector the context of utility privatisation. Following stakeholders are followers of the libertarian notion Schlosberg (2009), I argue for a pluralistic notion 30 R. Babourkova of environmental justice, based not only on liberal have access at reasonable cost. Recently, this pub- theories of distributive justice, but also embracing lic service tradition has been fundamentally chal- the notions of political recognition and participa- lenged by liberalisation in the network utilities tion. Although I give equal weight to those three sector, heavily promoted and encouraged by the dimensions, the distributive dimension in the case World Bank (Krishnaswamy and Stuggins 2003). of the electricity supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settle- Utility liberalisation, however, has its downsides. ments can be further differentiated into the follow- Motivated by profit-making, liberalised utilities ing three aspects: legality of construction, equity will not want to supply customers who are unprof- in access and an accountable regulatory regime. itable to connect to the grid or whose supply can The following two sections outline the nature of only be maintained at a cost (Bergman et al. utility privatisation in Bulgaria and introduce the 1999), as was already shown to be the case in situation of the Bulgarian Roma. The case study South Africa (McDonald 2005). On the consumer material is based on observations and informal side, unsatisfactory service provision can lead to interviews held with community and Roma rights consumers exercising their political voice, for organisation representatives in both settlements in example, by refusing to pay utility bills. Hence, even the summer of 2007. Names of informants have if privatised, network utilities operate most often been anonymised to maintain confidentiality. The under terms set by a state regulator (Newbery 2001). research admits to a slight bias towards the posi- The privatisation of network utilities in the tion of the Roma as no interviews were conducted United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s by suc- with utility representatives. cessive Conservative governments led to mixed outcomes for consumers. Basic consumer protec- tion was built into legislative frameworks of eco- 4. Privatisation of network utilities nomic regulation within which privatised utilities Privatisation is any public measure that results in were to operate. Issues of access by low-income the transfer of ownership, control or management of and disadvantaged groups were left to be dealt assets or economic activities (Iatridis 2000). Heav- with by the benefits system, in the form of fuel ily influenced by the need to distance themselves allowances or household support (Jones 2001). from the failed institutions and practices of central Low-income consumers were affected more planning, virtually all CEE countries adopted priva- adversely than the general population because of a tisation as one of the main vehicles of transition to a mixture of rising electricity tariffs and the failure market economy in the 1990s, with a strong reduc- to recognise the particular needs of low-income tion in the role of the state as redistributor and pro- households in the formulation of service standards tector of individual’s rights and liberties (Plionis (Ernst 1994). The same effects have been noticed and Plionis 2000; Thomadakis 2000). The bulk of in the privatisation of utilities in other high- and privatisation efforts took place in the industrial low-income countries. A study of the distribu- sphere, but the focus of this article is the specific tional impact of privatisation concludes that the case of privatisation of network utilities. key to minimal loss in social welfare is the crea- The literature identifies water and energy sys- tion and enforcement of an independent and tems as vital components of the physical and social accountable regulatory regime (Birdsall and Nellis infrastructure of all contemporary societies. Water, 2003). This has turned out to be a challenge in the electricity and gas are most often transmitted via privatisation experience of transitional economies. fixed networks, referred to as network utilities. The collapse of the socialist system in the Traditionally, electricity and other utilities have early 1990s brought about a number of structural been viewed as ‘public goods’ that should not be changes and reforms in the economies of CEE motivated by the desire to make profits and to countries. The infrastructure inherited from the which all members in a modern society should socialist era, with its focus on heavy production, International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 31 little concern for the consumer and for economic Energy Regulatory Commission (SERC) and the costs and indifference towards the environment, State Energy Efficiency Agency (SEEA) (World was only partly suited to a market economy Bank 2001). The SERC, now called the State (Kennedy and Stern 2001). Thus, one of the key Energy and Water Regulatory Commission objectives of this reform process involved the pri- (SEWRC), is separate from any ministry and is vatisation of state-owned enterprises and service chaired by a chairman with a fixed term of providers. Network utilities were often selected as appointment (Kennedy and Stern 2001). SEWRC attractive industries to privatise because they were has the power to issue, amend or withdraw simply the most valuable commercial assets licences for the production, transmission and dis- indebted countries had (Newbery 2001). Not men- tribution of energy. tioning its environmentally costly and highly pol- For all its inefficiencies, the socialist system luting nature, the power sector in CEE was also with its egalitarian nature gave almost all house- suffering from low-operational efficiency and holds access to reliable and inexpensive energy, as plant availability in generation, high losses in it distributed housing and other infrastructure in transmission and distribution and low revenue and similar fashion. So, for privatisation observers, cash collection. In addition, the necessary regula- welfare gains from increased access to electricity tory or institutional arrangements for operation supply were not going to be a consideration in along commercial lines were lacking (Kennedy transitional economies after privatisation. Positive and Stern 2001; Kennedy 2003). outcomes were most often expected in terms of The privatisation process in Bulgaria began service quality. However, if there is improvement relatively late. The utilities sector (power, heating in service quality, it takes place only a few years and infrastructure) only entered privatisation in after privatisation, whereas prices rise early in the early 2000 (Giatzidis 2002). The vertically inte- process. This mismatch between the timing of grated, state-owned Nacionalna Elektricheska gains and losses, caused by utility reforms, and the Kompania (NEK) (National Electricity Company) uncertainty about the gains have made consumers established a joint-stock company in 1992, which sceptical about the benefits of privatisation dominated the electricity supply industry until its (Lampietti 2004). What privatisation observers ‘un-bundling’ in 2000 into legally separate gen- could and did not anticipate, however, were the eration, transmission/dispatch and distribution combined effects of privatisation and of wider entities. NEK converted into a transmission com- social processes during transition, such as rural-to- pany with a single buyer division, a transmission urban migration, increased need for urban housing system maintenance division, hydropower plants and infrastructure and rising ethnic hostility, on and dispatch centre, and changed its name to access to utility service. Nacionalna Elektroprenosna Kompania (National The way utilities are governed relates to a util- Electro-transportation Company) (Wold Bank itarian understanding of distributive justice, that is 2001). Electricity distribution was privatised as the ‘fair’ distribution of society’s benefits and bur- late as 2005, with regional distribution networks dens (McNabb 2001). Realising the limitations of open for tender to foreign utility providers. this form of distributive justice, and to strengthen The Energy and Energy Efficiency Act ethics in public service, Western societies have (EEEA) of 1999 established a system of regulation produced laws on what utility managers and of electricity, district heating and gas with the administrators can and cannot do. These include intention of developing a competitive energy mar- laws forbidding discrimination, regulatory rules ket and attracting private investment into the and procedures for setting rates and even regula- energy sector. The Act set up three new bodies tions on what customers can and cannot be served. concerned with energy issues: the State Agency of However, according to McNabb (2001), utility Energy and Energy Resources (SAEER), the State managers have more responsibility than simply 32 R. Babourkova adhering to the law. Access to water, sewerage Turks, the other large ethnic minority in Bulgaria, and energy services is closely related to health and were also forced to change their names to Bulgar- overall quality of life, and all households have to ian names and could lose access to municipal ser- use a certain amount of energy or water, regardless vice for not complying (Ringold et al. 2005). of household income or cost of services. The Roma in Bulgaria and other former social- Utility providers have an important role to ist countries have been disproportionately affected play in terms of how services are provided and by the transition to the market economy. The how low-income consumers can be assisted to Roma have not benefited from the reprivatisation marshal their limited resources to full effect in process that occurred in the early 1990s as they purchasing and paying for the utility service. This never owned property and had nothing to re-claim. could be made possible through the provision of In addition, as landlords were no longer obliged to varied payment options, the method and frequency house Roma families, many Roma tenants found of which consumers are billed and the general themselves forced out of their legal abodes. All of attitude utility providers adopt towards customers this, combined with the closure of agricultural in debt. However, transparency and accountability cooperatives and state industrial enterprises where in the process are often lacking because discon- large numbers of Roma had been previously nection codes of practice are not published, nor employed, was the cause of a large-scale Roma usually made available to consumer and welfare rural-to-urban migration (Dzeno Association, organisations advocating on behalf of customers n.d.). Because of the rising anti-Roma hostility (Ernst 1994). among the general population post-socialism, To further counteract potential equity issues Roma have preferred to move to settlements with resulting from electricity privatisation, Article 3 of compact Roma population, where they feel safer, the EU Electricity Directive states that member even when the living conditions may be remarka- states may impose requirements on distribution bly worse than in Bulgarian neighbourhoods companies to meet certain public service obliga- (Gheorgiev 2004). tions, such as security of supply, regularity, qual- ity and price of supplies and environmental 5.1. Socio-economic situation protection (European Council and Parliament of the European Union 2003). In 1999, all then mem- According to the 2001 census, the Roma make up ber states had imposed public service obligations 4.7% of Bulgaria’s population of eight million. on their incumbent distribution companies, Roma rights organisations estimate the figure to although these ranged from minimal in Germany be close to 700,000 – twice the official figure (OSI to very important in France (Bergman et al. 1999). 2008). The unemployment rate among the Roma was 52.9% in 2003, compared to 17.3% among ethnic Bulgarians. Roma poverty is further aggra- 5. The Roma in Bulgaria vated and characterised by inadequate or non- Roma groups first settled in Bulgaria in the thir- existent physical and social infrastructure in Roma teenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Ottoman settlements, and poor-quality and illegally built Turks conquered large parts of the Balkans. Many housing (UNDP 2005). About half of Bulgaria’s abandoned their nomadic way of life and initiated Roma population derives its main source of a slow but steady sedentarisation process. After income from social transfers such as state allow- the communist takeover of Bulgaria in 1944, the ances, benefits and pensions (UNDP 2004). Roma became the object of purposeful state policy. The amount of social assistance received A 1958 policy decreed that every Bulgarian citi- depends largely on household size. Given the sig- zen had to settle, effectively eliminating nomadic nificantly higher birth rate within the Roma com- way of life (Gheorgiev 2004). The Roma and the munity, Bogdanov and Angelov (2006) argue that International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 33 the Roma are ‘favoured’ by the system, which cre- water, sewerage systems and electricity lines ates further incentives to have more children and (Slaev 2007). According to a recent study, 33% of stay out of the labour market. In 42% of Roma Roma have no access to secure housing, 81% lack households, children have not completed primary access to an indoor WC and 10% have no running education (UNDP 2004). This is partly because of water in their homes. the cultural values of the Roma community and The two largest Roma settlements in Bulgaria the low integration rates of the Roma in Bulgarian are Fakulteta in the capital Sofia and Stolipinovo society and partly a cause of the educational sys- in Bulgaria’s second largest city Plovdiv. Stolipi- tem itself, which does not have mechanisms to novo in Plovdiv’s eastern district has an unofficial prevent school drop out (OSI 2008). The Roma population of 45,000. About 80% of the local also have lower life expectancy and higher mortal- Roma population live in the 34 prefabricated ity rates than the general population and are more apartment blocks, which combined boast 2430 susceptible to communicable diseases and suffer apartments (Figure 1). The rest live in illegally higher rates of infant mortality, caused in part by built two- to three-storey solid houses. According the substandard living conditions prevalent in to research by Slaev (2007), in the past 10 years, Roma neighbourhoods (Rorke and Wilkens 2006). 70% of Roma households in Stolipinovo and other communities have undertaken solid construction, either as extensions or new two- to three-storey 5.2. The housing problem houses. Besides being illegal, this new construc- In Bulgaria and other countries of Southeast tion is developed without any architectural or Europe (SE), Roma settlements are referred to as structural plans and lacks basic amenities. New mahalas. During Ottoman times, towns were solid houses encroach on a number of communica- divided into districts along ethnic and religious tion lines and cause problems for vehicular traffic, lines. Today, Roma settlements are a remnant of access for emergency and municipal services and this former division. With higher birth rates prevent the laying and upgrading of infrastructure among the Roma population and rural-to-urban (Figure 2). The literature on Roma housing does migration processes, Roma mahalas are continu- not define what is meant by ‘illegal’ construction. ously growing (Ringold et al. 2005). The term may refer to the house lacking building At the beginning of the 1960s, the Bulgarian permission, as well as to the land tenure. state built small single-family houses for Roma The 2001 census estimated the Roma popula- households, in many towns and villages, which tion of Sofia to be 17,885. However, Sofia Munic- were supplied with water, sewerage and electric- ipality has unofficially accepted that the Roma in ity. In the 1970s and 1980s, the state followed a Sofia number no less than 100,000 (Equal Oppor- ‘slum eradication’ approach and began to re-house tunities Association, n.d.). This striking difference many Roma in prefabricated apartment buildings. in the statistics goes back to the self-identification This policy did not take into account the tradi- of the Roma in the National Census of 2001. tional life style and housing preferences and needs Because of the social stigma attached to being a of the Roma. Residents usually tried to adjust the Roma, Muslim Roma largely identify themselves dwellings by destroying the finishing works, like as Turks, and Orthodox Roma identify themselves the floor covering and appliances, which they as Bulgarians (Vassilev 2004). were not used to. Lack of maintenance led to the The Fakulteta district on the western borders decay and currently appalling condition of these of the city is the biggest Roma settlement in Sofia. buildings. At the end of the socialist period, increased The settlement counts 60,000 inhabitants, although uncontrolled housing construction took place, both the official figure is only 15,000. With the excep- in existing slums and in the relocation sites. New tion of the Central Zone, Fakulteta’s oldest and extensions and houses had no connections to best-established part, the majority of settlement is 34 R. Babourkova Figure 1. Prefabricated apartment blocks for Roma in Stolipinovo (photograph by the author, 2007). characterised by substandard housing, built illegally analytical framework developed in the previous on municipal or private land. For most properties, it sections. The analytical framework encompasses is also difficult to define the exact owner as several three dimensions of environmental justice: distri- families usually live on the same property. All parts bution, recognition and participation. of Fakulteta suffer from severe infrastructure problems. The electricity network is insufficient, 6.1. Dimensions of environmental justice: which causes frequent breakdowns. The water distribution supply and sewerage system do not cover the whole A number of Roma settlements across the country settlement. There is very limited access to public are not connected to the electricity grid for reasons transport and the road network is in a miserable related to the illegality of the settlements and local condition (Equal Opportunities Association, n.d.). government neglect for their Roma residents. In some mahalas where electricity supply networks 6. Environmental justice in utility exist, the utility providers intentionally cut off privatisation – the case of the electricity electricity because people have not been able to supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements pay the bills. Moreover, to prevent theft, tradi- tional household electricity meters have been Drawing on empirical research, the following sec- replaced with large, silver-metal boxes attached to tions present the specific case of the electricity electricity or telephone poles 6–12 m above street supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements through the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 35 Figure 2. New solid construction in Stolipinovo (photograph by the author, 2007). level. This is the case in both Stolipinovo and Electricity supply in Plovdiv was privatised in Fakulteta (Zoon 2001). 2005. The Austrian utility company EVN acquired Since the privatisation of electricity distribu- Plovdiv’s electricity distributor and is now trading tion in 2005, the Fakulteta district in Sofia has under the name EVN Bulgaria Elektrorazpredele- been supplied by the Czech company CEZ. When nie AD. Stolipinovo’s main electricity supply CEZ first invested in new infrastructure for problem is the community’s accumulated debt Fakulteta, they decided to attach the meters to 6 m from non-payment of electricity bills since the high posts, with the consequence that consumers early 1990s. After a sudden electricity cut in could not control their own consumption (Figure 3). February 2002, the whole community took to the Upgrades in the network are still urgently needed streets to protest, resulting in damaged property as no repairs have been done for many years, and and clashes with the police. Since this incident, the the network was initially designed for fewer con- whole neighbourhood has been on night tariff, sumers. With population growth in Fakulteta and receiving electricity only from 7 pm to 7 am network overload, accidents are not uncommon. (Cohen 2006). The lack of electricity during day- However, CEZ seems to refuse to repair the net- time prevents residents from using conventional work because of low collection rates, and operates household appliances, such as refrigerators and only a limited emergency service for the Roma electric cookers, and causes problems for food residents of Fakulteta. preparation and storage. This is a clear-cut case of 36 R. Babourkova Figure 3. Electricity meter attached at 6 m above the ground in Fakulteta (photograph by the author, 2007). distributional injustice towards the Roma popula- Under the Spatial Planning Act, electricity tion of Stolipinovo leading to a disproportionate meters can only be installed in legally constructed health burden for local residents. dwellings. For illegal constructions, electricity providers are allowed to install control meters, albeit at the customer’s expense, which are con- 6.1.1. Legality of construction nected to the meter of a legal house. The control Among all distributional equity issues surround- meter remains only for information on electricity ing the supply of infrastructure in general, and of usage for that particular household. If that house- electricity in particular, in Roma settlements, the hold does not pay their bills, the main meter will most central is probably related to the illegal sta- be disconnected as well at everyone’s expense tus of Roma houses and dwellings. Lacking proof (Personal communication, Roma rights organisa- of land tenure or construction permits, often the tion representative, Fakulteta, Sofia, 18 July only document Roma home owners possess is a 2007). EVN appears to be more uncomfortable contract between the seller and the buyer of the with this practice than CEZ because this practice property. Residential buildings without a legal creates problems of accumulation of very large permit are in conflict with 2001 Spatial Planning bills for the owners of the legal meters and poten- Act. The route to legalising a building without a tial conflicts of who is to pay the outstanding bills. permit is very complicated. People often pay high In the summer of 2007, EVN embarked on a large- bribes to solve their housing problem (Gheorgiev scale three million leva (US$1.9 million) upgrade 2004). project in Stolipinovo. The grid upgrade would International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 37 make possible the individual monitoring of usage practice of both utilities to install electricity and payments for each customer as well as the meters in Roma neighbourhoods at unusually high 24 h supply of electricity for the whole neighbour- levels – 6–12 m above the ground. The practice, hood. Electricity meters, still attached out of resi- which prevents the customers from checking the dents’ reach by the former state utility, are to be meters, violates the contractual terms set by the lowered to street level and placed in transparent utility itself (Mihaylova 2005). The courts have boxes. Despite the utility’s motivation to improve ruled on several occasions that this is a case of dis- the supply, the implementation of the project is crimination against the client’s ethnic origin and burdened by policy and planning issues outside have ordered the utility to place the meter at a the control of the utility, one of which is precisely level accessible for the customers. Although the the legality of new solid construction. litigation process moved to the High Court, CEZ Surprisingly, Roma mahala-dwellers do not had already unofficially declared that it is not consider the illegality of the housing construction going to bring down the meters; it would rather to be much of a problem, because the lack of pay the fines. Many of the court cases were settled municipal building control has benefited those in through non-judiciary settlements (Personal com- need of immediate housing. Cadastre plans for munication, Roma rights organisation representa- Roma mahalas, needed for legalising existing tive, Fakulteta, 18 July 2007). dwellings and for including mahalas in urban Support against unjust utility practices towards development plans, are either non-existent or diffi- the Roma minority has surprisingly come also cult to acquire (PER 2003). from the general population, who are themselves often severely prejudiced and hostile to the Roma. In a recent deliberative poll, respondents stated 6.1.2. Equity in access that electricity should be cut-off only when it is Equity in access relates to an equitable electricity verified that a subscriber has not paid their bills. supply service for all citizens and consumers, Further, electricity cut-off for the whole neigh- regardless of their ethnic origin. Equity in access bourhood was seen as collective punishment, is also reflected in utility providers’ attitude and which is unlawful. Respondents also thought that treatment of customer complaints and litigation because the government had neglected the prob- cases filed against them. The year before the pri- lems of Roma settlements for such a long time, it vatisation of the electricity services in Sofia, the must not suddenly shift the responsibility to the Romani Baht Foundation (RBF) and the Bulgarian citizens. Evoking Rawls’ principles of justice, Helsinki Committee filed a case against Sofia respondents stated that until the issues of legalisa- Electricity Company after the utility had refused tion are resolved, the government should make to repair a breakdown of the electricity grid unless sure that mahala-dwellers are not deprived of elec- at least 70% of the Fakulteta population paid their tricity (Center for Deliberative Democracy 2007). bills. Among those cut-off from electricity supply for 2.5 months during winter were at least 30 6.1.3. Accountable regulatory regime households without outstanding debts. According to the RBF’s investigations, such cases of collec- The establishment of a transparent and accounta- tive punishment against customers were only ble regulatory regime plays a central role in ensur- enforced in Roma neighbourhoods, and constitute ing distributive justice after utility privatisation and environmental injustice according to both lib- (McNabb 2001; Birdsall and Nellis 2003). Regula- ertarian and human rights principles. tory expertise was very limited at the start of the Court cases have been filed against the state- process as regulation was intricately intertwined owned Sofia Electricity Company before 2005 and with state ownership and policy-making. A number later against CEZ, challenging the discriminatory of privatisation observers had predicted that 38 R. Babourkova Bulgaria would be confronted with ‘second gen- The electricity issue in Roma settlements eration’ issues arising after privatisation, including became politicised in the 1990s when municipal post-privatisation disputes and renegotiations with and parliamentary elections were first held. Dur- government agencies and consumers on tariffs, ing every election, there has always been at least service quality and investment (World Bank one political party that would rally for the Roma 2001). Bulgarian authorities have been critiqued votes on the promise of free electricity supply. In on a number of occasions for not taking measures 1998, for example, Spas Garnevski, the then to address the lack of access to basic public serv- mayor of Plovdiv and a prominent leader of the ices in Roma settlements. The European Commis- Union of Democratic Forces, publicly announced sion on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has been that ‘the Roma are socially disadvantaged and particularly concerned about whole Roma districts therefore do not have to pay their electricity bills’ being cut off from electricity supply, particularly (Cohen 2006: 18). In the years to follow, numer- after the utility companies have begun to operate ous Roma households single-handedly connected under market conditions (ECRI 2003). their newly built illegal dwellings to the electricity Electricity supply and distribution is currently network. Despite the amount of negative coverage regulated by SEWRC, which although independ- in the local and national press, municipal and ent, still needs to strengthen its licence and market national government and the then electricity sup- monitoring activities and resulting sanctioning of plier turned a blind eye to the practice. Roma com- violations of licences (Attwood 2006). In the first munity leaders admit that this intentional 6 months of 2006, SEWRC had received 165 com- ignorance of the problem on the part of the state plaints on electricity issues, 40% more than in has led to people losing the habit of paying for 2005 and nearly half of which had been against electricity bills and now not being able to afford to CEZ’s Sofia division (SEWRC 2006). As SEWRC pay them (Personal communication, Community does not disaggregate its figures according to dis- leader, Stolipinovo, Plovdiv, 11 July 2007). tricts, it is impossible to know how many of Research by the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) those complaints have come from Fakulteta res- (2003) shows that Roma mahala-dwellers believe idents. However, no information is available on that they have rights as citizens to electricity and SEWRC’s website as to what decisions or sanc- other services that the state has an obligation to tions have been made towards CEZ’s Sofia divi- provide at a free or subsidised rate. sion, further undermining the accountability of In Stolipinovo, successive politicians have SEWRC. Nor is there a reference to the EU Elec- used the electricity rationing as a platform to get tricity Directive’s Article 3 on public service votes. A promise to restore the electricity supply obligation. was last given by Fikret Sepetchi, local leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. In June 2005, the entire population of Stolipinovo voted 6.2. Dimensions of environmental justice: for Sepetchi who subsequently obtained a seat in recognition Parliament (Cohen 2006). A poll by the National The distribution of the electricity supply in Democratic Institute (NDI) showed that Roma Bulgaria’s Roma settlements is certainly unjust voters were more likely to fall victim to offers of compared to the service received by the general financial reward or political pressure for votes. In population, but the nature of distribution has not the 2005 parliamentary election campaign, the come about suddenly with the onset of privatisa- majority of parties visited Roma settlements tion. The underlying reasons lie in decades of organising charity drives and promising new infra- lack of political and cultural recognition of the structure projects. The courting of Roma commu- different needs and lifestyles of the Roma nities was heavily covered by the national media, minority. which in turn outraged many Bulgarian voters International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 39 who felt ignored by the politicians and reinforced (Schlosberg 2009). In that sense, recognition the already existing hostility towards the Roma should also be reflected in the attitude of utilities (NDI 2006). towards their Roma customers. From the reaction In the run-up to Bulgaria’s accession to the of the Roma community and Roma leaders in European Union in 2007, political commitment Stolipinovo, and as evident from its corporate towards the problems of the Roma, at least on communications material, EVN appears to be tak- paper, grew stronger. Bulgaria signed up to a ing on the responsibility for providing equal number of international documents and conven- access to electricity to all of its customers, irre- tions on anti-discrimination and human rights, spective of their ethnic background. Although such as the United Nations Convention for Elimi- neither EVN, nor CEZ have an official customer nation of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and service policy as expected from well-governed the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention utility providers, EVN at least has stated in a for the Protection of National Minorities. A National recent press release that it follows the same prin- Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demo- ciples in service provision towards all of its cli- graphic Issues (NCCEDIs) was established, with ents (EVN Bulgaria 2008). No similar acceptance the mandate to oversee the implementation of the of responsibility has been shown on the part of Framework Programme for Equal Integration of CEZ, operating in Sofia. Roma in Bulgarian Society. Approved by the Council of Ministers in 1999, the Framework Pro- 6.3. Dimensions of environmental justice: gramme is the most important document concerning participation justice and equality for Bulgaria’s minorities. Bulgaria is also part of the Decade of Roma Inclu- As Schlosberg (2009) aptly states, recognition is sion 2005–2015, a regional initiative bringing intrinsically linked with participation in a political together CEE governments, non-governmental community. These two dimensions of justice rein- and civil society representatives to accelerate the force each other and form the basis for equity in progress of improving the welfare of the Roma. distribution. The level of community participation On the environmental front, Bulgaria has also rati- is certainly determined to a large extent by the fied the Aarhus Convention. Roma community’s ability to mobilise and organise Further, concrete efforts emphasising the polit- itself in its demands for distributive justice. ical recognition of Roma rights and needs can be Unlike communities of colour in the US environ- found among different state agencies. The Minis- mental justice movement, this is not the case with try of the Interior has set up a permanent working Bulgaria’s Roma. As community leaders in both group on human rights issues and has recruited Stolipinovo and Fakulteta admit, the Roma com- over 100 Roma. The Minister for Education and munity as a whole is made up of a large number of Science approved an instruction for the integration small communities without common goals and pur- of children and schoolchildren from minorities in pose, and there is a lack of individual commitment 2002. Training courses have also been conducted to the well-being and prosperity of the community. for members of the Guard Police to better acquaint The Roma Public Council ‘Kupate’, operating policemen with the history, culture and customs of in Sofia, has taken the initiative to be a partner of the Roma. In the area of urbanisation and living Sofia Municipality in social, economic and infra- conditions, the municipalities of Sofia and Plovdiv structural issues concerning the Roma. To what have been preparing and partially implementing, extent they represent the views and interests of the admittedly small-scale, ‘Roma Housing Construc- entire Roma population in Sofia remains unclear, tion’ projects (ECRI 2003). particularly as there is no information available on However, for justice to be institutionalised, how the organisation is conformed and how its mem- recognition must happen in the wider social realm bers are appointed. In Stolipinovo, the Foundation 40 R. Babourkova for Regional Development ‘Roma’, has emerged breakthrough national instrument for combating as the local leading Roma organisation whose discrimination on various grounds. One important leader has also been working closely with the innovation for the Bulgarian legal system stipu- former mayor of the eastern district of Plovdiv on lated in the act allows non-profit public interest housing projects and have negotiated with EVN organisations to litigate on their own behalf when over electricity issues in Stolipinovo on several the rights of many are breached. occasions. However, it remains an exception. Attempts at increased Roma participation are Roma activists have complained that community evident also on the side of EVN. Public consulta- organisation is poor to non-existent in the majority tion was held with Stolipinovo residents on how of Roma mahalas and that the Roma are still hold- they would like the company to proceed with re- ing on to the promises of the socialist welfare connecting the neighbourhood to the grid. The state, which clash with the realities of the market community opted for a gradual switch-on after economy and privatisation (PER 2003). each subsection of the area is upgraded. The main There is no evidence of elected political lead- problem for EVN and the community remains the ers having contributed to ameliorating the situ- community’s debt of 12 million leva (US$7.5 mil- ation in Roma settlements, neither in terms of lion) in unpaid electricity bills, but EVN has intro- electricity supply, nor in relation to other infra- duced a fair system of repayment by calculating structure problems. Romani politicians are not yet the mean debt per household for the months Janu- as successful in mobilising their potential constit- ary to June 2007. Based on that, with each new uencies as their Turkish counterparts. Whereas monthly bill, people have to pay 10% off that the Turkish minority is represented by several average (Personal communication, Roma rights members of parliament (MPs) and some ministers organisation representative, Fakulteta, 18 July of Turkish origin (9.4% of the population, accord- 2007). In contrast, CEZ follows a much harsher ing to the 2001 census), there has been so far only policy for settling old debts; with every new con- one Roma MP (PER 2004). In Stolipinovo, there tract, the company demands that besides paying is only one elected deputy on the municipal coun- the new bills, the customer has to pay off 30% of cil and no channels whatsoever for communica- the debt straight away, and the other 70% has to be tion or consultation with the municipal paid off in the course of 3–6 months depending on administration (PER 2003). The lack of local the contract (Personal communication, Roma rights political figures further increases the lack of rep- organisation representative, Fakulteta, 18 July 2007). resentation of the Roma population, not only in government agencies, but also in dealing with the 6.4. Discussion and conclusion new utility managers and in insisting on equitable utility service. In this article, I have attempted to emphasise the Although political participation of the Roma importance of a pluralistic notion of justice based community is hampered by its own shortcomings, not only on liberal theories of distributive justice, there is some evidence of the state’s commitment but inclusive of notions of political and cultural to community participation in decision-making. recognition and participation in a political com- The above-mentioned Framework Programme for munity (Wenz 1988; Shrader-Frechette 2002; Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society, Schlosberg 2009). The main reason behind this for example, was elaborated with the active parti- argument is the belief that maldistribution of envi- cipation of over 80 Roma organisations, and is ronmental ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ is not only import- evidence of existing participative justice. Minority ant per se, but that there is a need to explore the organisations have also successfully lobbied the underlying factors of how maldistribution came government to pass the Protection Against Dis- about in the first place. In the case of the electricity crimination Act (PADA). The act is seen as a supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements, presented International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 41 in this article, maldistribution relates very much to rationing and differentiated customer service. the sudden shift from an egalitarian socialist sys- Now, as demonstrated, there is a difference in the tem with a commanding and highly distributive attitude and approach of the two utility providers. nature to a market economy, dominated by the CEZ, operating in the Sofia district of Fakulteta, pursuit of short-term economic gain and a weak follows a harsh policy towards settling debt and regulatory environment unable to remedy equity ignores pleas from the community and advocacy issues in the much promoted process of privatisa- organisations to improve its service and make tion. Bulgaria’s Roma minority, who never owned electricity metering transparent. Such an approach property, but was looked after by the egalitarian from CEZ is akin to fraud in the libertarian sense, socialist state, never benefited from property repri- but the lack of a properly functioning regulatory vatisation and became worst off in the process. regime inhibits a just solution for the Roma. EVN, From a Rawlsian and human rights environ- on the other hand, is more forthcoming and proac- mental justice perspective, the state has the obliga- tive towards its Roma customers. In other words, tion to make the least well off in society as well the utility has recognised, to a certain extent, the off as possible. As Smith (1994) contends, the role power of political and cultural recognition that of the state is crucial in ‘maintaining a broad range Schlosberg (2009) puts so much emphasis on. of social services built-up under socialism, insofar EVN has held public consultations with the com- as resources permit, as a cushion against the munity on the process of infrastructure upgrading impact of economic restructuring’ (p. 624). Hav- and has introduced a fairer system for settling cus- ing ignored the problems of the Roma for years, tomer debt. Experience shows that a positive the state has the obligation to relieve some of the attitude towards customers pays off. By investing suffering inflicted upon the Roma with the inequi- in new electricity infrastructure in another Roma table access to a basic service such as electricity. neighbourhood in Plovdiv, EVN has managed to This could be done, for example, by the state increase collection rates to 80%. taking responsibility for settling individuals and So what of the Roma community’s environ- communities’ accumulated debts. As an EU mem- mental justice demands? The illegality of con- ber, the Bulgarian State has also the obligation to struction, and hence the lack of property rights, improve transparency and accountability in the prevents the Roma, and the organisations advocat- regulatory regime. An official stance towards the ing on their behalf, from using libertarian princi- EU Electricity Directive would be a positive step ples to justify their right to equitable access to in that direction. But social benefits and resources electricity. The legalisation of entire Roma settle- can also be misused in a political game. This has ments, something human rights NGOs, such as been demonstrated time and time again by politi- OSI have long been advocating, would again cians tricking large parts of the Roma community require the use of contractarian demands on the into believing that they are socially disadvantaged state. The state, however, has so far been slow or and thus having the right as citizens to free elec- reluctant to make exceptions in the law for Roma tricity, instead of preparing them for the slow and settlements, keeping to utilitarian perspectives that financially painful process of utility privatisation. rules and regulations, including building and spa- The utilities are obviously operating under tial planning regulations, should be the same for market logic, and demand to have what is owed to society as a whole. What would help the Roma’s them in terms of debts repaid one way or the other. cause more than litigation cases based on distribu- As the state is not stepping in to help the Roma tive justice theories is stronger community mobili- with their accumulated debt problem, the utilities, sation and organisation in the sense of the US coming from a libertarian perspective, are seeking environmental justice movement. A well-organised to restore their financial assets by making their and mobilised community can do much more to disadvantaged Roma customers suffer electricity demand political and cultural recognition and 42 R. Babourkova political representation and participation, which, 3. The provider currently operates in Bulgaria under the name of CEZ Raspredelenie Bulgaria AD. as Schlosberg (2009) argues, is key to solving dis- tributional injustices. Although, the state is taking the right steps in giving political recognition to the Notes on contributor Roma and some political space for participation, Rosalina Babourkova: Developement Planning Unit, the process of increasing political recognition and University College London. participation could be sped up significantly if the Roma community and their organisations were able to organise better. References The research in this article confirms Callewaert’s Adebowale M. 2003. Environmental justice links and (2006) findings that different stakeholders hold lessons. York: Rowntree Foundation. conflicting views of what is just in environmental Agyeman J. 2000. Environmental justice: from the mar- gins to the mainstream? Town and country planning matters. However, it draws also on notions of association ‘Tomorrow’ series. London: Town and recognition and participation as proposed by Country Planning Association. 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Eur J marginsromania_20011201/romania_bulgaria_ Housing Policy. 7(1):63–84. macedonia.pdf http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Taylor & Francis http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/taylor-francis/the-environmental-justice-implications-of-utility-privatisation-the-eaD2sWhEvq

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Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Copyright: Copyright Taylor & Francis
ISSN: 1946-3146
eISSN: 1946-3138
DOI: 10.1080/19463138.2010.511029
Publisher site: See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Vol. 2, Nos. 1–2, May–November 2010, 24–44 TJUE The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Rosalina Babourkova* Development Planning Unit, University College London, London, UK (Received 1 March 2010; final version received 28 July 2010) The study explores the environmental justice implications of the privatisation of utilities through the case of electricity supply in two Roma settlements in Bulgaria. A case-specific analytical framework for envi- ronmental justice is developed, combining three central notions of justice theory: distribution, recognition and participation. The legality of construction, equity in access and the presence of an accountable regula- tory regime are further identified as aspects of distribution important to the case. The study concludes that a sound regulatory environment and strong community organisation and representation are integral to ensuring that privatisation of utilities complies with the principles of environmental justice. Keywords: privatisation; utilities; environmental justice; Roma; transitional economies 1. Introduction of environmental injustices because the collapse of the socialist system in terms of inequitable Resolving justice issues in environmental matters access to quality housing and infrastructure is no easy task. Successive theorists and observers services. I argue that issues of distribution, rec- of the environmental justice movement have ognition and participation all play a role in the argued that no single liberal justice theory can settle way the inequitable distribution of electricity environmental disputes because of the multiple, has come about in the transition period, and in and often conflicting, justice perspectives that the the way it continues to be perpetuated by the parties concerned subscribe to (Wenz 1988; Liu now privatised utilities. Distributional inequi- 2001; Callewaert 2006; Schlosberg 2009). Envi- ties have been, to a significant extent, the result ronmental justice as a theory in the making seems of the informal status of Roma settlements and to be adopting a pluralistic understanding of justice Roma housing, the lack of a transparent and based on a combination of traditional distributive accountable utility regulatory regime and the justice theories and notions of political recognition organisational capacity of the Roma community and participation. Such a shift in the theoretical itself. thinking follows the real-world claims and per- spectives of environmental justice activists. In this article I explore the environmental justice 2. Case-specific analytical framework for the implications of the privatisation of public utilities study of environmental justice focusing on the electricity supply in the two largest Roma settlements in Bulgaria. The The following section outlines the evolution of Roma in Bulgaria have suffered from a number the environmental justice movement both in the *Email: rosalina.babourkova@ucl.ac.uk ISSN 1946-3138 print/ISSN 1946-3146 online © 2010 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/19463138.2010.511029 http://www.informaworld.com International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 25 United States and Europe and the parallel develop- for Investigating Title VI Administrative Com- ment of theories of justice relevant to the concept plaints Challenging Permits in 1998, supported by of environmental justice. Ultimately, a case-specific the USA Civil Rights Act of 1964. These federal analytical framework for the study of environ- initiatives demonstrate a rights-based notion of mental justice in the context of utility privatisation justice with emphasis on fairness, impartiality, is presented. equity and the right to participation in environ- mental decision-making (Callewaert 2006). European institutions have officially recog- 2.1. Environmental justice as a movement nised the environmental justice debate only in the In the United States, people of colour had been past decade, with the launch of the 1998 Aarhus organising around environmental issues at an Convention on access to environmental informa- unprecedented rate since the 1980s. In contrast to tion, public participation in decision-making and the mainstream environmental movement’s preoc- access to justice in environmental matters (Euro- cupation with ‘green agenda’ issues, they were pean Commission 2007). Although the European concerned about and engaged in collective action Union has issued a number of additional directives mobilisation for basic civil rights in areas of on environmental information and public participa- employment, housing, education and health care tion in environmental decision-making, environ- (Camacho 1998). One particular incident in the mental justice issues remain no more than a early 1980s became a symbol for people of col- marginal issue in European environmental politics. our’s struggle for environmental equity. In 1982, Environment protection and anti-discrimination the state of North Carolina decided to solve the efforts are hardly ever linked and there is a distinct problem of illegally dumped PCB-laced oil by lack of awareness about the distributive aspects of designating a state-owned PCB-landfill in Warren environmental justice (Schwarte and Adebowale County, a predominantly black community. For a 2007). decade, Warren County community activists Whereas in the United States, environmental mobilised around non-violent direct action strate- justice has been a diverse grassroots-driven move- gies to prevent the disposal of PCBs. Although ment that has acquired strength and power from initially unsuccessful, the campaign came to be of decades of numerous local protests, in Europe it national importance for environmental justice has been steered by a small number of academics, activists and eventually persuaded state officials to researchers and NGOs, particularly from the detoxify the site (Bullard 2005). United Kingdom, attempting to link environmen- The Warren County case demonstrates that tal justice to wider sustainability issues (Agyeman good mobilisation and persistent non-violent 2000; FoE 2001; Adebowale 2003; Agyeman et action can exert pressure on the state to rectify al. 2003; Agyeman and Evans 2004). The Eastern environmental injustices. The most significant European context, with its socialist legacy and tur- success of the US environmental justice movement bulent political and economic transformation in so far has been for environmental justice to the 1990s, poses particularly interesting questions receive official recognition as a federal policy for the study of environmental justice. Pavlinek concern, when in 1993 the Clinton administration and Pickles (2000) argue that the opposing images established the President’s Council on Sustainable of high consumerism and ‘bread and butter’ politics Development. Executive Order 12898 of 1994 that dominated the public sphere in the 1990s have created the Environmental Justice Advisory Council squeezed out environmental and social justice to the United States Environmental Protection considerations, preventing the formation of such Agency (USEPA) (White 1998). In a further effort movements. to establish an environmental justice policy frame- The first coordinated effort to build a plat- work, the USEPA presented the Interim Guidance form for the study of environmental justice in 26 R. Babourkova Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries balance of benefits over harms for society as a was again based in academia. The Center for whole. Although it requires that equal considera- Environmental Policy and Law (CEPL) at the tion be given to the interests of all people, regard- Central European University in Budapest, Hun- less of their race, religion, wealth or gender, gary, launched the Environmental Justice Pro- importance is placed on the aggregate effect. Utili- gramme (EJP) with the help and support of the tarianism espouses the current mode of production EU Programme of Community Aid to the Coun- and consumption, with the aim of maximising tries of Central and Eastern Europe (PHARE) overall happiness and preference satisfaction, but and the Open Society Institute (OSI). In 2006, without paying attention to inequality and inequity the EJP joined forces with the Health and Envi- in the political–economic system and without rec- ronment Alliance (HEAL) to investigate the ognising the fact that many preferences are artifi- health aspects of environmental injustices, the cial and irrational (Wenz 1988). Liu’s (2001) majority of which relate to disproportionate envi- critique of utilitarianism is that its quantification ronmental burdens borne by the Roma, the larg- techniques are far too flexible and subject to est minority group in CEE (Varga et al. 2002; manipulation by those in power, with the result Steger and Filcak 2008), and to generate a policy that some people win whereas others lose. Also, framework for environmental justice in Europe the idea of the greatest good for the greatest (Steger 2007). number of people does not provide justice for all. For one, it leaves the individual vulnerable to the demands of the greater good of others. Second, 2.2. Environmental justice as a theory when overall economic well-being is calculated as There is no consensus in the literature over what an average, economic wealth can be increased notions of justice should form the basis for envi- even as economic and social inequality is allowed ronmental justice theory. Traditionally, environ- to rise (Plionis and Plionis 2000). mental justice has been examined purely as a distributional concern. Three justice theories per- 2.2.2. Contractarianism tain in particular to environmental justice: utili- tarianism, contractarianism and libertarianism Contractarianism, on the other hand, is based on (Liu 2001; Callewaert 2006). I would also add John Rawls’ idea of the social contract, which rec- human rights theory, as discussed by Wenz ognises that political, economic and social institu- (1988), as a relevant theory to the present case tions determine, to a large extent, what an study. Similarly, there is no consensus over what individual’s life chances will be (Plionis and constitutes the environment in environmental Plionis 2000). The first defining principle of the justice theory. Although I generally agree with contractarian view is that ‘each person is to have Wenz (1988) and Schlosberg (2009) that the an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty scope of environmental justice should include compatible with similar liberty for others’ (Rawls animal rights and the rights of ecosystems, for 1973: 60). This is made theoretically possible, the purpose of this article, I limit the discussion Rawls argues, when individuals imagine them- to the above-mentioned human-centred notions selves behind a ‘veil of ignorance’, where everyone of environmental justice. would be equal in the grand scheme of things. That way, every person would develop a particularly fair notion of justice that everyone else would agree 2.2.1. Utilitarianism with. But Rawls’ assumptions that all rational In the utilitarian view, whose origins lie in the individuals are not envious and that they are able thinking of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, to overcome their personal biases does not hold justice is about achieving the greatest possible true in reality. Moreover, he designed his principles International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 27 of justice to govern people who live together libertarianism point out that property rights are within a single society, but did not concern him- seldom well and rightfully defined and that in real- self with issues of justice that arise between and ity force and fraud are a common tool in the among culturally and politically different societies acquisition of resources (Wenz 1988; Liu 2001). and communities (Wenz 1988). In addition, market failures prevent a significant Rawls’ difference principle holds that ‘social number of people from fulfilling their basic needs and economic inequalities are to be arranged so (Plionis and Plionis 2000). that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) attached to posi- 2.2.4. Human rights tions and offices open to all’ (Rawls 1973: 60). In contrast to the utilitarian view, distributive ine- A further theory that is very relevant to the quality cannot be used to widen the gap between human-centred notion of environmental justice is rich and poor, but must be used to make the least the concept of human rights. The concept can be well off in society as well off as possible. This traced back to John Locke who argued that people implies the need for a strong redistributive state, in have natural rights to life, liberty and property and the sense of the modern democratic welfare state. insisted that it is the duty of all governments to Also, inequalities of position and power should guarantee those natural or human rights as rights not be locked in for all time, but should be subject enshrined by law. Wenz (1988) differentiates to fair competition (Plionis and Plionis 2000). Locke’s human rights into positive and negative However, the many inequalities endemic to any rights. He defines negative human rights essen- society are related precisely to positions of power tially as Locke’s rights to non-interference in and employment and the unjust ways in which one’s life, liberty and property. Positive human they are acquired and maintained. rights, on the other hand, are based on Kant’s idea of the protection and development of human wel- fare as important goals of morality. The argument 2.2.3. Libertarianism for the existence of positive human rights is that The third notion of justice pertaining to environ- there is something very special, extraordinary and mental justice is libertarianism, which emphasises valuable about human beings, making every the importance of the free market, private prop- human being worthy of being treated with respect. erty, voluntary transactions and freedom for indi- Even though such rights are established in the viduals. The basic premise is that individuals United Nations Universal Declaration of Human should be allowed to do whatever they want in the Rights, signed by the majority of countries, their absence of force or fraud as long as they respect provision and protection is not guaranteed in prac- the equal right of others to do the same. State tice. To the extent that governments, for whatever intervention is only necessary to the extent of pro- reason, fall short in their duties, other people are tecting individual rights, freedom and property responsible for doing what they can to assist in the from force or fraud, but not for the purposes of provision of food, clothing, housing and medical redistribution (Wenz 1988). Justice is determined care to those in need. Despite the proliferation of by how the distribution came about, not by the local advocacy groups, international non-govern- nature of the distribution, in terms of its amount or mental organisations and international agree- allocation (Plionis and Plionis 2000). Libertarian ments advocating on behalf of those in need, both principles work well in disputes between individuals, negative and positive human rights are not well but fail to provide just solutions when a large respected in the world today. This is evident in number of people are affected, such as in instances cases of international terrorism, political oppres- of environmental pollution or the consumption of sion and conditions of malnutrition, inadequate collective goods such as air and water. Critics of housing and illiteracy (Wenz 1988). 28 R. Babourkova 2.3. Distributive versus participative notions hamper real participation in political and cultural of justice institutions. Shrader-Frechette (2002) is one of the few authors who pick up on that notion within the The theories of justice discussed so far are all environmental justice literature. The CEPL has about the distribution of environmental goods and also expanded the debate around environmental bads in society. A key problem with all those lib- justice from a focus on inequalities in the distribu- eral theories of justice is that they lack notions of tion of environmental ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ to respect and recognition. Schlosberg’s (2009) dis- include issues of access and participation in cussion of Iris Young and Nancy Fraser’s critique decision-making and defines environmental injus- of the emphasis on distribution within traditional tice as follows: justice theories is a case in point. One of the cent- ral concerns of both Young and Fraser is recogni- An environmental injustice exists when members tion and the lack of it in the social and political of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority or other realms, demonstrated by various forms of insults, groups suffer disproportionately at the local, degradation and devaluation at both individual and regional (sub-national), or national levels from cultural level. Lack of recognition constitutes environmental risks or hazards, and/or suffer dis- proportionately from violations of fundamental injustice, ‘not only because it constrains people human rights as a result of environmental factors, and does them harm, but also because it is the and/or denied access to environmental invest- foundation for distributive injustice’ (Schlosberg ments, benefits, and/or natural resources, and/or 2009: 14). The problem with recognition is that participation in decision-making; and/or access to the state cannot allocate it as it does, for example, justice in environment-related matters. (Steger 2007: 10) education or housing assistance. The state may set an example of recognising a socially demeaned group, but recognition must happen on a much 2.4. Conflicts in justice perspectives wider societal scale. The implication is that ‘the concept of justice as recognition moves beyond a Examining environmental injustice-related com- focus on the state alone for remedies and brings plaints, Callewaert (2006) identifies that key justice theory squarely into the political space bey- stakeholders (community, government and indus- ond the state’ (Schlosberg 2009: 23). try) hold conflicting conceptions of environmental Alongside recognition, Young and Fraser justice based on competing principles. Communi- emphasise a person’s membership and participa- ties generally espouse Rawls’ contractarian princi- tion in the greater community, including the polit- ples, such as equal right to basic liberties, when ical and institutional order as another central seeking to address environmental injustices dimension to the concept of justice. As Schlosberg through the legal system (Callewaert 2006). How- (2009) bluntly puts it ‘if you are not recognised, ever, the legal system would only ever be able to you do not participate; if you do not participate, remedy distributional issues. Schlosberg’s (2009) you are not recognised’ (p. 26). Following Young analysis, on the other hand, shows that both the and Fraser, Schlosberg argues that justice must global and US environmental justice movements focus on the political process, including demands advocate a version of justice not solely based on for more broad and authentic public participation, distributional principles, but with additional as a way to address both the inequitable distribu- emphasis on recognition and political participation tion of social goals and the conditions undermin- at both individual and community levels. A case in ing social recognition. In other words, it is not just point is the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice that political and cultural institutions create condi- developed at the 1991 First National People of tions that hamper equity and recognition, but that Colour Leadership Summit. This truly broad both distributive inequity and misrecognition statement covers not only protection from toxic International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 29 contamination, but also environmental policies that justice is best determined by the market and based on mutual respect and self-determination, that the market logic is what drives capital invest- and the right to participate as equal partners in ment decisions. However, the latter have social every level of decision-making (Shrader-Frechette and environmental impacts, which often relate in 2002). one form or another to issues of justice. From an State agencies, on the other hand, generally environmental democracy point of view, citizens follow the utilitarian perspective (Callewaert should, at the very least, be able to expect that 2006). In a representative democratic system, gov- investment decisions do not undermine public ernments are elected and authorised to manage environmental interest and minimally acceptable conflict in society. This could be done through standards of social justice. A democratic manage- government provision of collective goods and ment of economic activity implies the participation services and implies that government also has the of worker-citizen and community representatives capacity to withhold rewards and benefits for on company boards (Mason 1999). This presents a certain groups and individuals under the condition good opportunity to extend the notion of participa- of limited resources. As there is not enough of tive justice to the private sector. However, this what people want for everyone, each public policy also means that the private sector needs to view decision requires that some groups and individuals consumers/customers not purely as cash cows, but make sacrifices (Camacho 1998). In their pursuit also as citizens expecting accountable corporate of procedural justice with the goal of benefiting decisions. In countries with long-documented rac- the broader public good, government stakeholders ist history, such as South Africa, the privatisation often have no authority to deal with public com- of municipal services has failed low-income and plaints and concerns that fall outside procedures, mostly black communities not only in terms of rules and regulations. This often leaves com- their rights as citizens, but also in their rights as munity members feeling abandoned by the state in consumers. Private utility providers often refuse to their concerns about health and the environment serve poor (and mostly black) neighbourhoods (Callewaert 2006). where return on investment is not guaranteed Problems also arise if the government has (McDonald 2005). strong ties to and acts under the influence of elitist groups such as large businesses and corporations. 3. Case-specific analytical framework for the Such upper-class groups may hold what is essen- study of environmental justice in the context of tially public power to the extent that upper-class utility privatisation interests are a factor in all that public officials do, and where the working class and minority groups As Callewaert rightly concludes, justice cannot be have only marginal influence through the electoral solely left to the market, nor can it be relegated to system (Camacho 1998). In the context of envi- environmental rules and regulations. As none of ronmental justice, this means that minority com- the theories discussed adequately serve as a uni- munities are often victims of state officials turning fied framework to deal with environmental justice a blind eye to environmentally unjust industry issues, Callewaert and others suggest shifting practices, such as waste dumping near the homes away from a particular normative paradigm. In a of poor people of colour, to gain political or financial pluralist world of justice concepts, adopting any support. This could pose a particular problem in concept of justice will be seen as unfair to some- cash-strapped transitional or low-income countries body with a different understanding of justice (Liu where law enforcement is more lax and corruption 2001). Hence, I develop here a case-specific prevalent. framework for evaluating environmental justice in According to Callewaert (2006), private sector the context of utility privatisation. Following stakeholders are followers of the libertarian notion Schlosberg (2009), I argue for a pluralistic notion 30 R. Babourkova of environmental justice, based not only on liberal have access at reasonable cost. Recently, this pub- theories of distributive justice, but also embracing lic service tradition has been fundamentally chal- the notions of political recognition and participa- lenged by liberalisation in the network utilities tion. Although I give equal weight to those three sector, heavily promoted and encouraged by the dimensions, the distributive dimension in the case World Bank (Krishnaswamy and Stuggins 2003). of the electricity supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settle- Utility liberalisation, however, has its downsides. ments can be further differentiated into the follow- Motivated by profit-making, liberalised utilities ing three aspects: legality of construction, equity will not want to supply customers who are unprof- in access and an accountable regulatory regime. itable to connect to the grid or whose supply can The following two sections outline the nature of only be maintained at a cost (Bergman et al. utility privatisation in Bulgaria and introduce the 1999), as was already shown to be the case in situation of the Bulgarian Roma. The case study South Africa (McDonald 2005). On the consumer material is based on observations and informal side, unsatisfactory service provision can lead to interviews held with community and Roma rights consumers exercising their political voice, for organisation representatives in both settlements in example, by refusing to pay utility bills. Hence, even the summer of 2007. Names of informants have if privatised, network utilities operate most often been anonymised to maintain confidentiality. The under terms set by a state regulator (Newbery 2001). research admits to a slight bias towards the posi- The privatisation of network utilities in the tion of the Roma as no interviews were conducted United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s by suc- with utility representatives. cessive Conservative governments led to mixed outcomes for consumers. Basic consumer protec- tion was built into legislative frameworks of eco- 4. Privatisation of network utilities nomic regulation within which privatised utilities Privatisation is any public measure that results in were to operate. Issues of access by low-income the transfer of ownership, control or management of and disadvantaged groups were left to be dealt assets or economic activities (Iatridis 2000). Heav- with by the benefits system, in the form of fuel ily influenced by the need to distance themselves allowances or household support (Jones 2001). from the failed institutions and practices of central Low-income consumers were affected more planning, virtually all CEE countries adopted priva- adversely than the general population because of a tisation as one of the main vehicles of transition to a mixture of rising electricity tariffs and the failure market economy in the 1990s, with a strong reduc- to recognise the particular needs of low-income tion in the role of the state as redistributor and pro- households in the formulation of service standards tector of individual’s rights and liberties (Plionis (Ernst 1994). The same effects have been noticed and Plionis 2000; Thomadakis 2000). The bulk of in the privatisation of utilities in other high- and privatisation efforts took place in the industrial low-income countries. A study of the distribu- sphere, but the focus of this article is the specific tional impact of privatisation concludes that the case of privatisation of network utilities. key to minimal loss in social welfare is the crea- The literature identifies water and energy sys- tion and enforcement of an independent and tems as vital components of the physical and social accountable regulatory regime (Birdsall and Nellis infrastructure of all contemporary societies. Water, 2003). This has turned out to be a challenge in the electricity and gas are most often transmitted via privatisation experience of transitional economies. fixed networks, referred to as network utilities. The collapse of the socialist system in the Traditionally, electricity and other utilities have early 1990s brought about a number of structural been viewed as ‘public goods’ that should not be changes and reforms in the economies of CEE motivated by the desire to make profits and to countries. The infrastructure inherited from the which all members in a modern society should socialist era, with its focus on heavy production, International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 31 little concern for the consumer and for economic Energy Regulatory Commission (SERC) and the costs and indifference towards the environment, State Energy Efficiency Agency (SEEA) (World was only partly suited to a market economy Bank 2001). The SERC, now called the State (Kennedy and Stern 2001). Thus, one of the key Energy and Water Regulatory Commission objectives of this reform process involved the pri- (SEWRC), is separate from any ministry and is vatisation of state-owned enterprises and service chaired by a chairman with a fixed term of providers. Network utilities were often selected as appointment (Kennedy and Stern 2001). SEWRC attractive industries to privatise because they were has the power to issue, amend or withdraw simply the most valuable commercial assets licences for the production, transmission and dis- indebted countries had (Newbery 2001). Not men- tribution of energy. tioning its environmentally costly and highly pol- For all its inefficiencies, the socialist system luting nature, the power sector in CEE was also with its egalitarian nature gave almost all house- suffering from low-operational efficiency and holds access to reliable and inexpensive energy, as plant availability in generation, high losses in it distributed housing and other infrastructure in transmission and distribution and low revenue and similar fashion. So, for privatisation observers, cash collection. In addition, the necessary regula- welfare gains from increased access to electricity tory or institutional arrangements for operation supply were not going to be a consideration in along commercial lines were lacking (Kennedy transitional economies after privatisation. Positive and Stern 2001; Kennedy 2003). outcomes were most often expected in terms of The privatisation process in Bulgaria began service quality. However, if there is improvement relatively late. The utilities sector (power, heating in service quality, it takes place only a few years and infrastructure) only entered privatisation in after privatisation, whereas prices rise early in the early 2000 (Giatzidis 2002). The vertically inte- process. This mismatch between the timing of grated, state-owned Nacionalna Elektricheska gains and losses, caused by utility reforms, and the Kompania (NEK) (National Electricity Company) uncertainty about the gains have made consumers established a joint-stock company in 1992, which sceptical about the benefits of privatisation dominated the electricity supply industry until its (Lampietti 2004). What privatisation observers ‘un-bundling’ in 2000 into legally separate gen- could and did not anticipate, however, were the eration, transmission/dispatch and distribution combined effects of privatisation and of wider entities. NEK converted into a transmission com- social processes during transition, such as rural-to- pany with a single buyer division, a transmission urban migration, increased need for urban housing system maintenance division, hydropower plants and infrastructure and rising ethnic hostility, on and dispatch centre, and changed its name to access to utility service. Nacionalna Elektroprenosna Kompania (National The way utilities are governed relates to a util- Electro-transportation Company) (Wold Bank itarian understanding of distributive justice, that is 2001). Electricity distribution was privatised as the ‘fair’ distribution of society’s benefits and bur- late as 2005, with regional distribution networks dens (McNabb 2001). Realising the limitations of open for tender to foreign utility providers. this form of distributive justice, and to strengthen The Energy and Energy Efficiency Act ethics in public service, Western societies have (EEEA) of 1999 established a system of regulation produced laws on what utility managers and of electricity, district heating and gas with the administrators can and cannot do. These include intention of developing a competitive energy mar- laws forbidding discrimination, regulatory rules ket and attracting private investment into the and procedures for setting rates and even regula- energy sector. The Act set up three new bodies tions on what customers can and cannot be served. concerned with energy issues: the State Agency of However, according to McNabb (2001), utility Energy and Energy Resources (SAEER), the State managers have more responsibility than simply 32 R. Babourkova adhering to the law. Access to water, sewerage Turks, the other large ethnic minority in Bulgaria, and energy services is closely related to health and were also forced to change their names to Bulgar- overall quality of life, and all households have to ian names and could lose access to municipal ser- use a certain amount of energy or water, regardless vice for not complying (Ringold et al. 2005). of household income or cost of services. The Roma in Bulgaria and other former social- Utility providers have an important role to ist countries have been disproportionately affected play in terms of how services are provided and by the transition to the market economy. The how low-income consumers can be assisted to Roma have not benefited from the reprivatisation marshal their limited resources to full effect in process that occurred in the early 1990s as they purchasing and paying for the utility service. This never owned property and had nothing to re-claim. could be made possible through the provision of In addition, as landlords were no longer obliged to varied payment options, the method and frequency house Roma families, many Roma tenants found of which consumers are billed and the general themselves forced out of their legal abodes. All of attitude utility providers adopt towards customers this, combined with the closure of agricultural in debt. However, transparency and accountability cooperatives and state industrial enterprises where in the process are often lacking because discon- large numbers of Roma had been previously nection codes of practice are not published, nor employed, was the cause of a large-scale Roma usually made available to consumer and welfare rural-to-urban migration (Dzeno Association, organisations advocating on behalf of customers n.d.). Because of the rising anti-Roma hostility (Ernst 1994). among the general population post-socialism, To further counteract potential equity issues Roma have preferred to move to settlements with resulting from electricity privatisation, Article 3 of compact Roma population, where they feel safer, the EU Electricity Directive states that member even when the living conditions may be remarka- states may impose requirements on distribution bly worse than in Bulgarian neighbourhoods companies to meet certain public service obliga- (Gheorgiev 2004). tions, such as security of supply, regularity, qual- ity and price of supplies and environmental 5.1. Socio-economic situation protection (European Council and Parliament of the European Union 2003). In 1999, all then mem- According to the 2001 census, the Roma make up ber states had imposed public service obligations 4.7% of Bulgaria’s population of eight million. on their incumbent distribution companies, Roma rights organisations estimate the figure to although these ranged from minimal in Germany be close to 700,000 – twice the official figure (OSI to very important in France (Bergman et al. 1999). 2008). The unemployment rate among the Roma was 52.9% in 2003, compared to 17.3% among ethnic Bulgarians. Roma poverty is further aggra- 5. The Roma in Bulgaria vated and characterised by inadequate or non- Roma groups first settled in Bulgaria in the thir- existent physical and social infrastructure in Roma teenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Ottoman settlements, and poor-quality and illegally built Turks conquered large parts of the Balkans. Many housing (UNDP 2005). About half of Bulgaria’s abandoned their nomadic way of life and initiated Roma population derives its main source of a slow but steady sedentarisation process. After income from social transfers such as state allow- the communist takeover of Bulgaria in 1944, the ances, benefits and pensions (UNDP 2004). Roma became the object of purposeful state policy. The amount of social assistance received A 1958 policy decreed that every Bulgarian citi- depends largely on household size. Given the sig- zen had to settle, effectively eliminating nomadic nificantly higher birth rate within the Roma com- way of life (Gheorgiev 2004). The Roma and the munity, Bogdanov and Angelov (2006) argue that International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 33 the Roma are ‘favoured’ by the system, which cre- water, sewerage systems and electricity lines ates further incentives to have more children and (Slaev 2007). According to a recent study, 33% of stay out of the labour market. In 42% of Roma Roma have no access to secure housing, 81% lack households, children have not completed primary access to an indoor WC and 10% have no running education (UNDP 2004). This is partly because of water in their homes. the cultural values of the Roma community and The two largest Roma settlements in Bulgaria the low integration rates of the Roma in Bulgarian are Fakulteta in the capital Sofia and Stolipinovo society and partly a cause of the educational sys- in Bulgaria’s second largest city Plovdiv. Stolipi- tem itself, which does not have mechanisms to novo in Plovdiv’s eastern district has an unofficial prevent school drop out (OSI 2008). The Roma population of 45,000. About 80% of the local also have lower life expectancy and higher mortal- Roma population live in the 34 prefabricated ity rates than the general population and are more apartment blocks, which combined boast 2430 susceptible to communicable diseases and suffer apartments (Figure 1). The rest live in illegally higher rates of infant mortality, caused in part by built two- to three-storey solid houses. According the substandard living conditions prevalent in to research by Slaev (2007), in the past 10 years, Roma neighbourhoods (Rorke and Wilkens 2006). 70% of Roma households in Stolipinovo and other communities have undertaken solid construction, either as extensions or new two- to three-storey 5.2. The housing problem houses. Besides being illegal, this new construc- In Bulgaria and other countries of Southeast tion is developed without any architectural or Europe (SE), Roma settlements are referred to as structural plans and lacks basic amenities. New mahalas. During Ottoman times, towns were solid houses encroach on a number of communica- divided into districts along ethnic and religious tion lines and cause problems for vehicular traffic, lines. Today, Roma settlements are a remnant of access for emergency and municipal services and this former division. With higher birth rates prevent the laying and upgrading of infrastructure among the Roma population and rural-to-urban (Figure 2). The literature on Roma housing does migration processes, Roma mahalas are continu- not define what is meant by ‘illegal’ construction. ously growing (Ringold et al. 2005). The term may refer to the house lacking building At the beginning of the 1960s, the Bulgarian permission, as well as to the land tenure. state built small single-family houses for Roma The 2001 census estimated the Roma popula- households, in many towns and villages, which tion of Sofia to be 17,885. However, Sofia Munic- were supplied with water, sewerage and electric- ipality has unofficially accepted that the Roma in ity. In the 1970s and 1980s, the state followed a Sofia number no less than 100,000 (Equal Oppor- ‘slum eradication’ approach and began to re-house tunities Association, n.d.). This striking difference many Roma in prefabricated apartment buildings. in the statistics goes back to the self-identification This policy did not take into account the tradi- of the Roma in the National Census of 2001. tional life style and housing preferences and needs Because of the social stigma attached to being a of the Roma. Residents usually tried to adjust the Roma, Muslim Roma largely identify themselves dwellings by destroying the finishing works, like as Turks, and Orthodox Roma identify themselves the floor covering and appliances, which they as Bulgarians (Vassilev 2004). were not used to. Lack of maintenance led to the The Fakulteta district on the western borders decay and currently appalling condition of these of the city is the biggest Roma settlement in Sofia. buildings. At the end of the socialist period, increased The settlement counts 60,000 inhabitants, although uncontrolled housing construction took place, both the official figure is only 15,000. With the excep- in existing slums and in the relocation sites. New tion of the Central Zone, Fakulteta’s oldest and extensions and houses had no connections to best-established part, the majority of settlement is 34 R. Babourkova Figure 1. Prefabricated apartment blocks for Roma in Stolipinovo (photograph by the author, 2007). characterised by substandard housing, built illegally analytical framework developed in the previous on municipal or private land. For most properties, it sections. The analytical framework encompasses is also difficult to define the exact owner as several three dimensions of environmental justice: distri- families usually live on the same property. All parts bution, recognition and participation. of Fakulteta suffer from severe infrastructure problems. The electricity network is insufficient, 6.1. Dimensions of environmental justice: which causes frequent breakdowns. The water distribution supply and sewerage system do not cover the whole A number of Roma settlements across the country settlement. There is very limited access to public are not connected to the electricity grid for reasons transport and the road network is in a miserable related to the illegality of the settlements and local condition (Equal Opportunities Association, n.d.). government neglect for their Roma residents. In some mahalas where electricity supply networks 6. Environmental justice in utility exist, the utility providers intentionally cut off privatisation – the case of the electricity electricity because people have not been able to supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements pay the bills. Moreover, to prevent theft, tradi- tional household electricity meters have been Drawing on empirical research, the following sec- replaced with large, silver-metal boxes attached to tions present the specific case of the electricity electricity or telephone poles 6–12 m above street supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements through the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 35 Figure 2. New solid construction in Stolipinovo (photograph by the author, 2007). level. This is the case in both Stolipinovo and Electricity supply in Plovdiv was privatised in Fakulteta (Zoon 2001). 2005. The Austrian utility company EVN acquired Since the privatisation of electricity distribu- Plovdiv’s electricity distributor and is now trading tion in 2005, the Fakulteta district in Sofia has under the name EVN Bulgaria Elektrorazpredele- been supplied by the Czech company CEZ. When nie AD. Stolipinovo’s main electricity supply CEZ first invested in new infrastructure for problem is the community’s accumulated debt Fakulteta, they decided to attach the meters to 6 m from non-payment of electricity bills since the high posts, with the consequence that consumers early 1990s. After a sudden electricity cut in could not control their own consumption (Figure 3). February 2002, the whole community took to the Upgrades in the network are still urgently needed streets to protest, resulting in damaged property as no repairs have been done for many years, and and clashes with the police. Since this incident, the the network was initially designed for fewer con- whole neighbourhood has been on night tariff, sumers. With population growth in Fakulteta and receiving electricity only from 7 pm to 7 am network overload, accidents are not uncommon. (Cohen 2006). The lack of electricity during day- However, CEZ seems to refuse to repair the net- time prevents residents from using conventional work because of low collection rates, and operates household appliances, such as refrigerators and only a limited emergency service for the Roma electric cookers, and causes problems for food residents of Fakulteta. preparation and storage. This is a clear-cut case of 36 R. Babourkova Figure 3. Electricity meter attached at 6 m above the ground in Fakulteta (photograph by the author, 2007). distributional injustice towards the Roma popula- Under the Spatial Planning Act, electricity tion of Stolipinovo leading to a disproportionate meters can only be installed in legally constructed health burden for local residents. dwellings. For illegal constructions, electricity providers are allowed to install control meters, albeit at the customer’s expense, which are con- 6.1.1. Legality of construction nected to the meter of a legal house. The control Among all distributional equity issues surround- meter remains only for information on electricity ing the supply of infrastructure in general, and of usage for that particular household. If that house- electricity in particular, in Roma settlements, the hold does not pay their bills, the main meter will most central is probably related to the illegal sta- be disconnected as well at everyone’s expense tus of Roma houses and dwellings. Lacking proof (Personal communication, Roma rights organisa- of land tenure or construction permits, often the tion representative, Fakulteta, Sofia, 18 July only document Roma home owners possess is a 2007). EVN appears to be more uncomfortable contract between the seller and the buyer of the with this practice than CEZ because this practice property. Residential buildings without a legal creates problems of accumulation of very large permit are in conflict with 2001 Spatial Planning bills for the owners of the legal meters and poten- Act. The route to legalising a building without a tial conflicts of who is to pay the outstanding bills. permit is very complicated. People often pay high In the summer of 2007, EVN embarked on a large- bribes to solve their housing problem (Gheorgiev scale three million leva (US$1.9 million) upgrade 2004). project in Stolipinovo. The grid upgrade would International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 37 make possible the individual monitoring of usage practice of both utilities to install electricity and payments for each customer as well as the meters in Roma neighbourhoods at unusually high 24 h supply of electricity for the whole neighbour- levels – 6–12 m above the ground. The practice, hood. Electricity meters, still attached out of resi- which prevents the customers from checking the dents’ reach by the former state utility, are to be meters, violates the contractual terms set by the lowered to street level and placed in transparent utility itself (Mihaylova 2005). The courts have boxes. Despite the utility’s motivation to improve ruled on several occasions that this is a case of dis- the supply, the implementation of the project is crimination against the client’s ethnic origin and burdened by policy and planning issues outside have ordered the utility to place the meter at a the control of the utility, one of which is precisely level accessible for the customers. Although the the legality of new solid construction. litigation process moved to the High Court, CEZ Surprisingly, Roma mahala-dwellers do not had already unofficially declared that it is not consider the illegality of the housing construction going to bring down the meters; it would rather to be much of a problem, because the lack of pay the fines. Many of the court cases were settled municipal building control has benefited those in through non-judiciary settlements (Personal com- need of immediate housing. Cadastre plans for munication, Roma rights organisation representa- Roma mahalas, needed for legalising existing tive, Fakulteta, 18 July 2007). dwellings and for including mahalas in urban Support against unjust utility practices towards development plans, are either non-existent or diffi- the Roma minority has surprisingly come also cult to acquire (PER 2003). from the general population, who are themselves often severely prejudiced and hostile to the Roma. In a recent deliberative poll, respondents stated 6.1.2. Equity in access that electricity should be cut-off only when it is Equity in access relates to an equitable electricity verified that a subscriber has not paid their bills. supply service for all citizens and consumers, Further, electricity cut-off for the whole neigh- regardless of their ethnic origin. Equity in access bourhood was seen as collective punishment, is also reflected in utility providers’ attitude and which is unlawful. Respondents also thought that treatment of customer complaints and litigation because the government had neglected the prob- cases filed against them. The year before the pri- lems of Roma settlements for such a long time, it vatisation of the electricity services in Sofia, the must not suddenly shift the responsibility to the Romani Baht Foundation (RBF) and the Bulgarian citizens. Evoking Rawls’ principles of justice, Helsinki Committee filed a case against Sofia respondents stated that until the issues of legalisa- Electricity Company after the utility had refused tion are resolved, the government should make to repair a breakdown of the electricity grid unless sure that mahala-dwellers are not deprived of elec- at least 70% of the Fakulteta population paid their tricity (Center for Deliberative Democracy 2007). bills. Among those cut-off from electricity supply for 2.5 months during winter were at least 30 6.1.3. Accountable regulatory regime households without outstanding debts. According to the RBF’s investigations, such cases of collec- The establishment of a transparent and accounta- tive punishment against customers were only ble regulatory regime plays a central role in ensur- enforced in Roma neighbourhoods, and constitute ing distributive justice after utility privatisation and environmental injustice according to both lib- (McNabb 2001; Birdsall and Nellis 2003). Regula- ertarian and human rights principles. tory expertise was very limited at the start of the Court cases have been filed against the state- process as regulation was intricately intertwined owned Sofia Electricity Company before 2005 and with state ownership and policy-making. A number later against CEZ, challenging the discriminatory of privatisation observers had predicted that 38 R. Babourkova Bulgaria would be confronted with ‘second gen- The electricity issue in Roma settlements eration’ issues arising after privatisation, including became politicised in the 1990s when municipal post-privatisation disputes and renegotiations with and parliamentary elections were first held. Dur- government agencies and consumers on tariffs, ing every election, there has always been at least service quality and investment (World Bank one political party that would rally for the Roma 2001). Bulgarian authorities have been critiqued votes on the promise of free electricity supply. In on a number of occasions for not taking measures 1998, for example, Spas Garnevski, the then to address the lack of access to basic public serv- mayor of Plovdiv and a prominent leader of the ices in Roma settlements. The European Commis- Union of Democratic Forces, publicly announced sion on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has been that ‘the Roma are socially disadvantaged and particularly concerned about whole Roma districts therefore do not have to pay their electricity bills’ being cut off from electricity supply, particularly (Cohen 2006: 18). In the years to follow, numer- after the utility companies have begun to operate ous Roma households single-handedly connected under market conditions (ECRI 2003). their newly built illegal dwellings to the electricity Electricity supply and distribution is currently network. Despite the amount of negative coverage regulated by SEWRC, which although independ- in the local and national press, municipal and ent, still needs to strengthen its licence and market national government and the then electricity sup- monitoring activities and resulting sanctioning of plier turned a blind eye to the practice. Roma com- violations of licences (Attwood 2006). In the first munity leaders admit that this intentional 6 months of 2006, SEWRC had received 165 com- ignorance of the problem on the part of the state plaints on electricity issues, 40% more than in has led to people losing the habit of paying for 2005 and nearly half of which had been against electricity bills and now not being able to afford to CEZ’s Sofia division (SEWRC 2006). As SEWRC pay them (Personal communication, Community does not disaggregate its figures according to dis- leader, Stolipinovo, Plovdiv, 11 July 2007). tricts, it is impossible to know how many of Research by the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) those complaints have come from Fakulteta res- (2003) shows that Roma mahala-dwellers believe idents. However, no information is available on that they have rights as citizens to electricity and SEWRC’s website as to what decisions or sanc- other services that the state has an obligation to tions have been made towards CEZ’s Sofia divi- provide at a free or subsidised rate. sion, further undermining the accountability of In Stolipinovo, successive politicians have SEWRC. Nor is there a reference to the EU Elec- used the electricity rationing as a platform to get tricity Directive’s Article 3 on public service votes. A promise to restore the electricity supply obligation. was last given by Fikret Sepetchi, local leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. In June 2005, the entire population of Stolipinovo voted 6.2. Dimensions of environmental justice: for Sepetchi who subsequently obtained a seat in recognition Parliament (Cohen 2006). A poll by the National The distribution of the electricity supply in Democratic Institute (NDI) showed that Roma Bulgaria’s Roma settlements is certainly unjust voters were more likely to fall victim to offers of compared to the service received by the general financial reward or political pressure for votes. In population, but the nature of distribution has not the 2005 parliamentary election campaign, the come about suddenly with the onset of privatisa- majority of parties visited Roma settlements tion. The underlying reasons lie in decades of organising charity drives and promising new infra- lack of political and cultural recognition of the structure projects. The courting of Roma commu- different needs and lifestyles of the Roma nities was heavily covered by the national media, minority. which in turn outraged many Bulgarian voters International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 39 who felt ignored by the politicians and reinforced (Schlosberg 2009). In that sense, recognition the already existing hostility towards the Roma should also be reflected in the attitude of utilities (NDI 2006). towards their Roma customers. From the reaction In the run-up to Bulgaria’s accession to the of the Roma community and Roma leaders in European Union in 2007, political commitment Stolipinovo, and as evident from its corporate towards the problems of the Roma, at least on communications material, EVN appears to be tak- paper, grew stronger. Bulgaria signed up to a ing on the responsibility for providing equal number of international documents and conven- access to electricity to all of its customers, irre- tions on anti-discrimination and human rights, spective of their ethnic background. Although such as the United Nations Convention for Elimi- neither EVN, nor CEZ have an official customer nation of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and service policy as expected from well-governed the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention utility providers, EVN at least has stated in a for the Protection of National Minorities. A National recent press release that it follows the same prin- Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demo- ciples in service provision towards all of its cli- graphic Issues (NCCEDIs) was established, with ents (EVN Bulgaria 2008). No similar acceptance the mandate to oversee the implementation of the of responsibility has been shown on the part of Framework Programme for Equal Integration of CEZ, operating in Sofia. Roma in Bulgarian Society. Approved by the Council of Ministers in 1999, the Framework Pro- 6.3. Dimensions of environmental justice: gramme is the most important document concerning participation justice and equality for Bulgaria’s minorities. Bulgaria is also part of the Decade of Roma Inclu- As Schlosberg (2009) aptly states, recognition is sion 2005–2015, a regional initiative bringing intrinsically linked with participation in a political together CEE governments, non-governmental community. These two dimensions of justice rein- and civil society representatives to accelerate the force each other and form the basis for equity in progress of improving the welfare of the Roma. distribution. The level of community participation On the environmental front, Bulgaria has also rati- is certainly determined to a large extent by the fied the Aarhus Convention. Roma community’s ability to mobilise and organise Further, concrete efforts emphasising the polit- itself in its demands for distributive justice. ical recognition of Roma rights and needs can be Unlike communities of colour in the US environ- found among different state agencies. The Minis- mental justice movement, this is not the case with try of the Interior has set up a permanent working Bulgaria’s Roma. As community leaders in both group on human rights issues and has recruited Stolipinovo and Fakulteta admit, the Roma com- over 100 Roma. The Minister for Education and munity as a whole is made up of a large number of Science approved an instruction for the integration small communities without common goals and pur- of children and schoolchildren from minorities in pose, and there is a lack of individual commitment 2002. Training courses have also been conducted to the well-being and prosperity of the community. for members of the Guard Police to better acquaint The Roma Public Council ‘Kupate’, operating policemen with the history, culture and customs of in Sofia, has taken the initiative to be a partner of the Roma. In the area of urbanisation and living Sofia Municipality in social, economic and infra- conditions, the municipalities of Sofia and Plovdiv structural issues concerning the Roma. To what have been preparing and partially implementing, extent they represent the views and interests of the admittedly small-scale, ‘Roma Housing Construc- entire Roma population in Sofia remains unclear, tion’ projects (ECRI 2003). particularly as there is no information available on However, for justice to be institutionalised, how the organisation is conformed and how its mem- recognition must happen in the wider social realm bers are appointed. In Stolipinovo, the Foundation 40 R. Babourkova for Regional Development ‘Roma’, has emerged breakthrough national instrument for combating as the local leading Roma organisation whose discrimination on various grounds. One important leader has also been working closely with the innovation for the Bulgarian legal system stipu- former mayor of the eastern district of Plovdiv on lated in the act allows non-profit public interest housing projects and have negotiated with EVN organisations to litigate on their own behalf when over electricity issues in Stolipinovo on several the rights of many are breached. occasions. However, it remains an exception. Attempts at increased Roma participation are Roma activists have complained that community evident also on the side of EVN. Public consulta- organisation is poor to non-existent in the majority tion was held with Stolipinovo residents on how of Roma mahalas and that the Roma are still hold- they would like the company to proceed with re- ing on to the promises of the socialist welfare connecting the neighbourhood to the grid. The state, which clash with the realities of the market community opted for a gradual switch-on after economy and privatisation (PER 2003). each subsection of the area is upgraded. The main There is no evidence of elected political lead- problem for EVN and the community remains the ers having contributed to ameliorating the situ- community’s debt of 12 million leva (US$7.5 mil- ation in Roma settlements, neither in terms of lion) in unpaid electricity bills, but EVN has intro- electricity supply, nor in relation to other infra- duced a fair system of repayment by calculating structure problems. Romani politicians are not yet the mean debt per household for the months Janu- as successful in mobilising their potential constit- ary to June 2007. Based on that, with each new uencies as their Turkish counterparts. Whereas monthly bill, people have to pay 10% off that the Turkish minority is represented by several average (Personal communication, Roma rights members of parliament (MPs) and some ministers organisation representative, Fakulteta, 18 July of Turkish origin (9.4% of the population, accord- 2007). In contrast, CEZ follows a much harsher ing to the 2001 census), there has been so far only policy for settling old debts; with every new con- one Roma MP (PER 2004). In Stolipinovo, there tract, the company demands that besides paying is only one elected deputy on the municipal coun- the new bills, the customer has to pay off 30% of cil and no channels whatsoever for communica- the debt straight away, and the other 70% has to be tion or consultation with the municipal paid off in the course of 3–6 months depending on administration (PER 2003). The lack of local the contract (Personal communication, Roma rights political figures further increases the lack of rep- organisation representative, Fakulteta, 18 July 2007). resentation of the Roma population, not only in government agencies, but also in dealing with the 6.4. Discussion and conclusion new utility managers and in insisting on equitable utility service. In this article, I have attempted to emphasise the Although political participation of the Roma importance of a pluralistic notion of justice based community is hampered by its own shortcomings, not only on liberal theories of distributive justice, there is some evidence of the state’s commitment but inclusive of notions of political and cultural to community participation in decision-making. recognition and participation in a political com- The above-mentioned Framework Programme for munity (Wenz 1988; Shrader-Frechette 2002; Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society, Schlosberg 2009). The main reason behind this for example, was elaborated with the active parti- argument is the belief that maldistribution of envi- cipation of over 80 Roma organisations, and is ronmental ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ is not only import- evidence of existing participative justice. Minority ant per se, but that there is a need to explore the organisations have also successfully lobbied the underlying factors of how maldistribution came government to pass the Protection Against Dis- about in the first place. In the case of the electricity crimination Act (PADA). The act is seen as a supply in Bulgaria’s Roma settlements, presented International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 41 in this article, maldistribution relates very much to rationing and differentiated customer service. the sudden shift from an egalitarian socialist sys- Now, as demonstrated, there is a difference in the tem with a commanding and highly distributive attitude and approach of the two utility providers. nature to a market economy, dominated by the CEZ, operating in the Sofia district of Fakulteta, pursuit of short-term economic gain and a weak follows a harsh policy towards settling debt and regulatory environment unable to remedy equity ignores pleas from the community and advocacy issues in the much promoted process of privatisa- organisations to improve its service and make tion. Bulgaria’s Roma minority, who never owned electricity metering transparent. Such an approach property, but was looked after by the egalitarian from CEZ is akin to fraud in the libertarian sense, socialist state, never benefited from property repri- but the lack of a properly functioning regulatory vatisation and became worst off in the process. regime inhibits a just solution for the Roma. EVN, From a Rawlsian and human rights environ- on the other hand, is more forthcoming and proac- mental justice perspective, the state has the obliga- tive towards its Roma customers. In other words, tion to make the least well off in society as well the utility has recognised, to a certain extent, the off as possible. As Smith (1994) contends, the role power of political and cultural recognition that of the state is crucial in ‘maintaining a broad range Schlosberg (2009) puts so much emphasis on. of social services built-up under socialism, insofar EVN has held public consultations with the com- as resources permit, as a cushion against the munity on the process of infrastructure upgrading impact of economic restructuring’ (p. 624). Hav- and has introduced a fairer system for settling cus- ing ignored the problems of the Roma for years, tomer debt. Experience shows that a positive the state has the obligation to relieve some of the attitude towards customers pays off. By investing suffering inflicted upon the Roma with the inequi- in new electricity infrastructure in another Roma table access to a basic service such as electricity. neighbourhood in Plovdiv, EVN has managed to This could be done, for example, by the state increase collection rates to 80%. taking responsibility for settling individuals and So what of the Roma community’s environ- communities’ accumulated debts. As an EU mem- mental justice demands? The illegality of con- ber, the Bulgarian State has also the obligation to struction, and hence the lack of property rights, improve transparency and accountability in the prevents the Roma, and the organisations advocat- regulatory regime. An official stance towards the ing on their behalf, from using libertarian princi- EU Electricity Directive would be a positive step ples to justify their right to equitable access to in that direction. But social benefits and resources electricity. The legalisation of entire Roma settle- can also be misused in a political game. This has ments, something human rights NGOs, such as been demonstrated time and time again by politi- OSI have long been advocating, would again cians tricking large parts of the Roma community require the use of contractarian demands on the into believing that they are socially disadvantaged state. The state, however, has so far been slow or and thus having the right as citizens to free elec- reluctant to make exceptions in the law for Roma tricity, instead of preparing them for the slow and settlements, keeping to utilitarian perspectives that financially painful process of utility privatisation. rules and regulations, including building and spa- The utilities are obviously operating under tial planning regulations, should be the same for market logic, and demand to have what is owed to society as a whole. What would help the Roma’s them in terms of debts repaid one way or the other. cause more than litigation cases based on distribu- As the state is not stepping in to help the Roma tive justice theories is stronger community mobili- with their accumulated debt problem, the utilities, sation and organisation in the sense of the US coming from a libertarian perspective, are seeking environmental justice movement. A well-organised to restore their financial assets by making their and mobilised community can do much more to disadvantaged Roma customers suffer electricity demand political and cultural recognition and 42 R. Babourkova political representation and participation, which, 3. The provider currently operates in Bulgaria under the name of CEZ Raspredelenie Bulgaria AD. as Schlosberg (2009) argues, is key to solving dis- tributional injustices. Although, the state is taking the right steps in giving political recognition to the Notes on contributor Roma and some political space for participation, Rosalina Babourkova: Developement Planning Unit, the process of increasing political recognition and University College London. participation could be sped up significantly if the Roma community and their organisations were able to organise better. References The research in this article confirms Callewaert’s Adebowale M. 2003. Environmental justice links and (2006) findings that different stakeholders hold lessons. York: Rowntree Foundation. conflicting views of what is just in environmental Agyeman J. 2000. Environmental justice: from the mar- gins to the mainstream? Town and country planning matters. However, it draws also on notions of association ‘Tomorrow’ series. London: Town and recognition and participation as proposed by Country Planning Association. 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International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 1, 2010

Keywords: privatisation; utilities; environmental justice; Roma; transitional economies

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The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria's Roma settlements

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The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria&apos;s Roma settlements

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The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria's Roma settlements

The environmental justice implications of utility privatisation: the case of the electricity supply in Bulgaria's Roma settlements