Press Release: Bathing Water Report 2000: continued improvement in fresh water bathing areas, marginal improvement in coastal waters

On 21 May 2001, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström presented the Commission's 2000 report on bathing water quality in Europe. In 2000 almost 97% of coastal bathing areas in Europe satisfied the quality criteria set out in the EU's Bathing Water Directive. For inland bathing areas (lakes and rivers) almost 94% provided good quality bathing water, showing that the trend of improvement evident since the Commission began issuing annual reports continues. The Bathing Water Directive aims to secure clean bathing water across Europe by avoiding or reducing the discharge of sewage which carries micro-organisms that can cause illness.

http://europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/index_en.html http://europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/index_en.html

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