Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - In 2010, the quality of bathing water across Europe declined slightly but the overall quality for inland waters as well as coastal waters was very high. The annual report on EU bathing water quality published jointly on Thursday 16 June by the European Commission and the European Environment Bureau (EEB) for the previous bathing season shows that, in 2010, over 90% of bathing sites met minimum legislative requirements, i.e. the binding requirements set out in Directive 2006/7/EC and not the guide values calling for excellence. Thus, 92.1% of bathing sites in lakes and rivers (compared to 89.4% in 2009) met requirements, while only 1.2% of coastal bathing water and 2.8% of inland bathing water were not in compliance with imperative values.
In the 2010 run up, Cyprus was the all-category champion (100% of its sites meeting requirements), followed by Croatia (97.3%), Malta (95.4%), Greece (94.2%, doubling its ranking effort), and Ireland (90.1%).
The EU must not, however, rest on its laurels. Janez Potocnik, European Environment Commissioner, underlines that there is room for improvement, adding: “Clean water is a priceless resource, and we should not take it for granted. I would encourage member states to ensure we turn the slight decline we experienced last year into an upward trend”.
Throughout Europe, 21,000 bathing sites were checked, including around 70% of coastal bathing waters. Jacqueline McGlade, EEB Executive Director, points out that “clean water for swimming is very important for EU citizens, and this information will allow them to demand the highest quality water in lakes, rivers and beaches. Public participation is essential for the continued monitoring of Europe's bathing water, especially as the effects of climate change become more visible”. For details on the quality of bathing water for each country throughout the EU, see: http: //ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water/water-bathing/report_2011.html and http: //eea.europa.eu/themes/water/interactive/bathing. (A.N./transl.jl)