Friday

29th Mar 2024

Cyprus best place to bathe in the EU

  • Polish beaches are among the worst in Europe (Photo: European Commission)

The quality of bathing waters at the seaside and by rivers and lakes is gradually decreasing, with Cyprus, Croatia, Malta and Greece scoring best, while beaches in Romania, Poland and Belgium are deemed worst, an EU report shows.

The yearly Quality of bathing waters report published Thursday (16 June) by the European Environment Agency shows a negative trend compared to 2009.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Comparing water quality in more than 21,000 coastal and inland bathing sites across the EU plus Croatia, Montenegro and Switzerland, the report finds that 18 countries had at least one non‐compliant bathing water. Most of these sites were found in Poland (19 percent), the Netherlands (11.8 percent) and Belgium (8.9 percent).

But in the ex-Yugoslav country of Montenegro, a candidate for EU membership, all beaches on the Adriatic coast only meet mandatory values for good or sufficient quality. None has received "excellent" quality status.

Romania's Black Sea resorts are almost the same story, with less than five percent of the beaches having "excellent" quality status.

In general, coastal bathing water quality deteriorated by 3.5 percent between 2009 and 2010 when it comes to mandatory values and by 9.5 percent when meeting recommended criteria.

Inland water quality has also dropped, with only a quarter of the river bathing waters achieving good values.

"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," environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said during a press conference.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us