Des eaux de baignade européennes « passables »[en] 

Whereas Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas qualified the results of the 2008 report  "very encouraging," as statistics indicate a general improvement in quality throughout the EU since 1990, the individual statistics reveal a more bleak score.

According to the report, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Latvia had "a significant number of non-compliant bathing waters," ranging from 118 areas in France to 11 in Latvia. 

Four countries had more than 10 bathing waters that were closed throughout the season. In Italy, a total of 553 or 9.7% of all bathing waters were closed, which 15 beaches in the Czech Republic, 13 in Germany and 10 in Spain faced the same fate. 

The highest percentage of bathing waters to meet the EU's minumum requirements during the 2008 bathing season was in Cyprus (98.2%), Greece (97.7%), France (96.3%) and Malta (94.3%). 

More than 80% of bathing waters in Italy, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Germany also met the minimum standards.

Overall, the report notes that during the 2008 bathing season, some 96% of coastal bathing areas and 92% of bathing sites in rivers and lakes complied with the minimum standards set out in the bloc's Bathing Water Directive  (1976).

The directive sets out a number of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters against which the quality of bathing waters is tested. Member states must comply with the mandatory values, but may adopt stricter standards and non-binding guidance values. 

The new Bathing Water Directive (2006) requires the EU-27 to comply with even stricter and more ambitious requirements by 2016. It calls for more effective monitoring and management of bathing waters, greater public participation and improved information dissemination. 

Emphasis on online tools

With this year's annual report, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is emphasising the role of online tools in directly informing citizens about the quality of water on the 21,400 bathing areas monitored throughout the EU.

"We are always happy to produce a paper report, but more and more our emphasis in reaching out to the public is through online tools via the website," said EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade. 

Together with the Commission, the EEA has developed a web tool called Wise ('Water Information System for Europe'), of which bathing water is one element. The tool provides access to zoomable maps of all European bathing areas and tables with detailed information on specific bathing areas. 

Last summer, the EEA launched Water Watch: Eye on the Earth , an Internet site allowing holidaymakers to verify whether the beaches at which they plan to bathe are clean or polluted. Users can also leave comments about water quality on the portal (EurActiv 29/07/08).

The EEA was also pleased to see that member states are increasingly providing information online, and hopes to see such information more regularly, McGlade said.