A/HRC/36/45/Add.1 31. Regulators, as part of public authorities, must act in accordance with the provisions of the international human rights treaties to which Portugal is a party. Their role also includes ensuring human rights compliance on the part of the municipalities and other entities that they regulate (see A/HRC/36/45). The Special Rapporteur urges the national regulator to ensure that its own policies, procedures and activities comply with the international human rights obligations of Portugal. 3. Complexity in the Portuguese water sector 32. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur observed several layers of tensions within the Portuguese water and sanitation sector. He noted that the institutional reform in the water sector that has been implemented in Portugal over the past two decades is facing challenges due to those tensions, especially with regard to the decision-making process involving different institutional actors. All actors that are part of the institutional framework of the water and sanitation sectors are tasked with key roles and responsibilities in respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human rights to water and sanitation. Therefore, tensions among those actors may have a negative impact on how they carry out their operations and their level of success in reaching their goal of providing water and sanitation services to the population. That in turn may affect or otherwise harm the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation. The Special Rapporteur highlights the fact that such tensions could become the root cause of situations that require attention under the human rights framework. In particular, the Special Rapporteur notes that the affordability of water and sanitation for the most vulnerable populations, including the “new poor”, is a relevant representation of that situation. 33. Firstly, the Special Rapporteur observed that the tensions between the roles of the bulk providers and of those responsible for retail provision had been present since the implementation of the reform and that they remain strong. The resistance of a number of municipalities to integrate into the bulk provision system has resulted in the coexistence of different models for the provision of water supply services. The Special Rapporteur finds that, while that diversity is not necessarily problematic, it seems to create institutional asymmetries, different rights for different providers and, most significantly, different conditions of access to the services by the population. The Special Rapporteur notes that the differentiated treatment of providers affected municipalities’ ability to access funds from the central Government and the European Union, thus negatively affecting the expansion of the infrastructure of the water and sanitation network. Another complaint that the Special Rapporteur came across is that some municipal authorities felt they did not have a free and independent voice in decision-making processes regarding the bulk provision of water and sanitation even when they are shareholders in the bulk provider corporation. 34. One aspect of those tensions was the resistances of municipalities, mainly in joining the bulk-level providers. In addition to the situation identified in the Setúbal Region, the Special Rapporteur visited the region of Porto and observed how, at times, small municipalities negatively viewed the model of splitting the provision in bulk and retail. In one of the sites visited, local authorities explained that the municipality refused to join the bulk-level service provider and were proud of managing a municipal service for water and sanitation, both at the bulk and the retail levels. In another municipality, the Special Rapporteur observed the discontent of the local authorities after they had joined the bulklevel provider the previous year, as the agreed investments had not been implemented and there was an increase in tariffs, which had not been stipulated in the contract. 35. A second layer of tension was observed between local authorities and the central Government, in particular, the degree of centralization or decentralization of water provisions, as well as the roles of government at both the central and the local levels. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that institutionalized and constructive cooperation on human rights between the central and local governments can have a positive impact on the level of implementation of the international human rights obligations of the State (see A/HRC/30/49, para. 21). The primary role to respect, protect and fulfil human rights lies with the State, that is to say, the central Government, local authorities and the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira. The Special Rapporteur notes the need for the Government of Portugal to stipulate explicit legal provisions that oblige local authorities and the 9