The annual bathing water report presented
today by the European Commission and the
European Environment Agency reveals that
the large majority of bathing sites across
the European Union met EU hygiene standards
in 2008. During that bathing season some
96 % of coastal bathing areas and 92 % of
bathing sites in rivers and lakes complied
with minimum standards. The report provides
useful water quality information for the
millions of people who visit Europe's beaches
every summer.
Commissioner for the
Environment Stavros Dimas said: "High
quality bathing water is essential for the
well-being of European citizens and the
environment — and this goes for all other
bodies of water too. I am pleased to see
that the overall quality of water in bathing
areas is improving throughout the Union."
Professor Jacqueline
McGlade, Executive Director of the European
Environment Agency, added, "Information
sources like this report and our web-based
viewing tools enable citizens not only to
check the quality of the bathing water in
their local community or holiday destination,
but also to allow them to get more actively
involved in the protection of their environment."
Bathing water quality
shows a long-term upward trend
Every summer millions of Europeans head
for the beach to enjoy the sun and to cool
down in refreshing clean water. To allow
Europeans to make an informed choice on
which beach to choose, the Commission publishes
a yearly report on the quality of coastal
and freshwater bathing areas as reported
by Member States for the beaches located
within their territory. This year the report
was prepared by the European Environment
Agency (EEA), which is also making available
on its website maps and tables with detailed
information on specific bathing areas.
In 2008 the number of
bathing waters monitored increased by some
75 sites. Of the 21 400 bathing areas monitored
throughout the European Union in 2008 two
thirds were on the coast and the rest were
along rivers and lakes. The largest number
of coastal bathing waters can be found in
Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Denmark
while Germany and France have the highest
number of inland bathing waters.
The overall quality
of bathing waters in the EU has markedly
improved since 11000. Compliance with mandatory
values (minimum quality requirements) increased
over the 11000 to 2008 period from 80 %
to 96 % and from 52 % to 92 % in coastal
and inland waters respectively. From 2007
to 2008 compliance increased both for inland
and coastal waters (1.1 and 3.3 percentage
points respectively).
Twelve Member States
monitoring under the new bathing directive
Bathing areas are zones where bathing is
explicitly authorised or where bathing is
traditionally practised by a large number
of bathers and is not prohibited.
To determine their quality
bathing waters are tested against a number
of physical, chemical and microbiological
parameters for which the Bathing Water Directive[1]
sets out mandatory values. Member States
must comply with the mandatory values but
may adopt the stricter standards and non-binding
guide values.
In 2006 a new bathing
water directive [2] took effect which updated
the parameters and monitoring provisions
in line with the latest scientific knowledge.
The new Directive places greater emphasis
on providing information to the public on
the quality of bathing areas. Member States
have until 2015 to fully implement the new
Directive but twelve Member States (Cyprus,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia,
Spain and Sweden) already monitored their
bathing areas during the 2008 bathing season
according to the parameters of the new Directive.
+ More
Everything about your
favourite beach is now at your fingertips
Published: 18 Jun 2009
- How is the water quality at your favourite
bathing spot? What do other beachgoers think?
What does the beach look like? The European
Environment Agency (EEA) and Microsoft environmental
information portal 'Eye on Earth' shows
not only the latest information on water
quality but also user ratings and comments,
pictures and live webcam streaming.
Every year, millions
of Europeans spend their summer vacations
by coastal or inland waters. Bathing water
quality can be a key factor in deciding
where to go. The Eye on Earth application
'Water Watch' displays the latest information
on bathing water quality from more than
22 000 monitoring points across Europe.
For some countries (Lithuania, Malta, Portugal,
Scotland and Slovenia) the data are from
the current bathing season and could be
the results of water analyses sampled only
days before.
'Eye on Earth' allows
users to search for a specific beach or
zoom in on a given section of a coast or
riverbank. The selected area or beach can
be viewed both in street map or bird's eye
formats. A 'traffic light' indicator (red,
amber, green) of water quality provides
a user-friendly approximation of national
testing results and is complemented by ratings
and comments from people who have visited
the site. The portal also allows registered
users to upload pictures and link to webcams.
The EEA and Microsoft
plan to develop the 'Eye on Earth' portal
by adding new sets of environmental information
in coming years.
+ More
Landfilling down as
Europe shifts to better waste management
Document Actions
Published: 10 Jun 2009
The EEA report 'Diverting waste from landfill'
finds that the EU Landfill Directive has
been a positive force in altering management
of biodegradable municipal waste in the
EU. The study explains how setting medium-
and long-term targets for reducing landfilling
has helped countries to define waste strategies
and target investments.
Adopted in 1999, the
Landfill Directive was a milestone in EU
waste policy. It responded to shortages
of landfill capacity in some Member States,
as well as methane emissions and water and
soil pollution, which were serious concerns
by the mid-11000s. The Directive aims to
divert refuse from landfill, encouraging
re-use, recycling and recovery.
Ten years on, is there
a success story to tell? Is the EU succeeding
in shifting waste from landfill to more
environmentally-friendly ways of managing
waste? Which strategies and measures have
proven most effective in different national
and regional contexts?
The EEA report released
today analyses and compares waste management
in Estonia, Finland, the Flemish Region
of Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Italy to
find out how practices and policies have
shifted in the last decade. From the strategies
and measures reviewed, it extracts important
conclusions for policy-makers across the
EU that will help in meeting the Directive's
next targets in 2016 and beyond.
+ More
EU greenhouse gas emissions
fall for third consecutive year
Document Actions
Press release
Published: 29 May 2009
European Union emissions of climate-changing
greenhouse gases (GHG) declined for the
third consecutive year in 2007, according
to the EU's GHG inventory report compiled
by the European Environment Agency. The
EU-27's overall domestic emissions were
9.3 % below 11000 levels, which equalled
a drop of 1.2 % or 59 million tonnes of
CO2 equivalent compared to 2006. The EU-15
now stands 5 % below its Kyoto Protocol
base year levels.
Falling emissions since
2005 have largely resulted from the lower
use of fossil fuels (particularly oil and
gas) in households and services — these
sectors, not covered by the EU Emission
Trading System (ETS), are among the largest
sources of GHG emissions in the EU. Warmer
weather and higher fuel prices were the
primary causes for the drop in emissions
in 2006–2007, with most of the decrease
occurring in households — particularly in
Germany.
Welcoming the reductions,
Professor Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive
Director, stressed that EU Member States
need to take positive steps to sustain progress
in coming years.
"The economic stimulus
packages that Governments are currently
adopting represent a crucial opportunity
to address the climate crisis and the financial
crisis simultaneously", Professor McGlade
said. "A strong Copenhagen agreement
later this year would drive forward investments
vital to our future prosperity."
Selected highlights
of the report
Seventeen EU Member States reduced GHG emissions
in 2007. Among EU-15 States, all but Spain
and Greece reduced emissions.
GHG emissions from international aviation
and maritime transport, currently excluded
in the national totals, have grown steadily
since 11000, reaching 6 % of total EU emissions
in 2007.
The report includes for the first time information
on the use of data and emissions reported
under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)
for the purposes of preparing national GHG
inventories in the EU-15. Most Member States
used the ETS data to improve and refine
the estimation and reporting of CO2 emissions.
The report also contains, for the first
time, key information about Member State
emission allowances under the Kyoto Protocol.
Inventory data becomes more accessible for
experts and the public
The European Environment Agency has updated
the data in the greenhouse gas (GHG) data
viewer, a web-based interface that simplifies
access and analysis of the data in the GHG
inventory report. The GHG data viewer can
show emission trends for the main sectors
and allows comparison of emissions between
different countries and activities. In addition,
the data viewer can produce graphics and
key emission estimates.
Background on the inventory
report
The EEA report ' Annual European Community
greenhouse gas inventory 11000–2007 and
inventory report 2009' has been submitted
to the secretariat of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
as the European Community's official submission..
The UNFCCC, with 192
Parties, is the parent treaty of the 1997
Kyoto Protocol. Their common goal is to
stabilise GHG concentrations in the atmosphere
at a level that prevents dangerous human
interference with the climate system.
EU-27: Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, the United Kingdom.
EU-15: Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom.
