primarily by two firms, Veolia and Suez. In 1993 the Loi Sapin strengthened competition in the sector by limiting the duration of contracts to 20 years, among others. In 2010 the lease contracts for Paris with Suez and Veolia expired and the water system returned to public management (remunicipalization). Measures to strengthen competition and to fight corruption Since the early 1990s a number of measures have been undertaken to strengthen competition, to fight corruption and to improve transparency in the French water and sanitation sector. Loi Sapin In January 1993 the French Parliament approved the Sapin Law (Loi Sapin) concerning the prevention of corruption and on the "transparency of economic life and public procedures". It received its name from Michel Sapin, the Socialist Minister of Economy and Finance at the time. A study by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, carried out by the consultancy TNS Sofres in 2006, showed the following impact of the law in the water and sanitation sector: the average price paid to private operators declined by 9% the average duration of contracts (gestion déléguée) has been reduced to 11 years the average number of bids by private operators for a given contract has increased from 2.6 to 4.5 However, it also noted that the decline in payments to private operators has not been passed on to consumers, because it is partially or fully compensated by increases in local taxes. Other measures In 2001 the Association of French Mayors has developed a standard contract for water supply and sanitation services that aims at strengthening the position of municipalities vis-à-vis private operators. In 2002 the Association of French Mayors, the Assembly of French Departments, the Association of French Regions and the Institut de la Gestion Déléguée (IGD) signed a "Charter of Local Public Services". In the charter these entities commit themselves, among others, to the free choice of management models and the reversibility of these choices; objective comparisons between management models; to ensure transparency of costs and to equitably share gains in performance; and to strengthen local democracy and independent evaluations. In order to facilitate objective comparisons through benchmarking, performance indicators should be developed and an Observatory of Local Public Services should be created to monitor the indicators. In 2004 IGD issued a draft document containing 10 proposed performance indicators for water supply and sanitation. Six years later, the observatory has not been created. However,