Press Release

Forty years of investments have improved Europe’s bathing water

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Press Release Published 20 May 2016 Last modified 19 May 2017

3 min read

Photo: © Peter Kristensen

The European Union’s efforts to ensure clean and healthy bathing water began forty years ago when the first Bathing Water Directive was issued. The annual bathing water report published today proves the value of the legislation and the years of investment in waste water infrastructure and other pollution reduction measures. It shows that bathing water quality has improved continuously over time leading to ninety-six per cent of monitored bathing sites in the EU meeting the minimum standards for water quality in 2015.