European bathing water quality remains high, with 84.8% of EU bathing sites monitored in 2019 meeting the highest and most stringent quality standards, according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) published on Monday 8 June.
According to this document, 95% of the 22,295 bathing sites monitored last year in Europe – of which 21,981 were located in the then-28 Member States, including the United Kingdom – met the minimum water quality requirements.
In addition, the share of poor-quality monitored sites is now 1.3%, compared to 2% in 2013, showing an improvement in the management of poor-quality bathing sites in Europe.
Finally, the report points out that the quality of coastal bathing sites is generally better than that of inland sites, with 87.4% and 79.1% of the sites judged to be of excellent quality, respectively.
For the EEA, the significant improvement in EU bathing water quality over the last decades is due in particular to the systematic monitoring and management introduced by the EU Bathing Water Directive (adopted in 1975 and revised in 2006), major investments in urban waste water treatment plants and improvements in wastewater networks.
For example, in the eyes of the European Commissioner for the Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Virginijus Sinkevičius, “clean bathing water is usually taken as something that is gifted, but it’s actually one of the European collective achievements”.
And the commissioner added, “This year’s report once again confirms that European citizens can continue to enjoy very high quality standards when bathing in European waters and all measures must be taken to continue along this path”.
To consult the report: https://bit.ly/3cFGDpr (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)