[ARCHIVED CONTENT] EUROPA

Bathing water quality

On 24 October 2002, the Commission has adopted the proposal for a revised Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Quality of Bathing Water COM(2002)581.

Europeans are very concerned about water quality in sea, coasts, rivers and lakes. They put good bathing water quality on the first line when judging their immediate living environment.

Knowing they have clean and safe water to swim or play in is an important factor in their choice of a holiday or weekend destination. Also for the tourist industry, clean and safe water is an important argument to attract visitors to an area.

Already back in the 1970's, Europe decided that bathing water quality should be monitored and tested in order to protect bathers from health risks and to preserve the environment from pollution. This resulted in 1976 in one of the first pieces of European environmental legislation: the Council Directive 76/160/EEC on Bathing Water Quality.

The 1976 Bathing Water Directive has set binding standards for bathing waters throughout the European Union. The annual Bathing Water Report and Tourist Atlas show substantial progress in the quality of bathing waters and large public awareness.

However, the 1976 Bathing Water Directive clearly reflects the state of knowledge and experience of the early 1970s, both technically as socially. Since 1976, epidemiological knowledge has progressed and managerial methods have improved.

On 24 October 2002, the Commission has adopted the proposal for a revised Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Quality of Bathing Water COM(2002)581.

Press release

Full text of the proposal

(pdf ~200K)

The proposed Directive makes use of only two bacteriological indicator parameters, but sets a higher health standard than the 1976/160 Directive. Based on international epidemiological research and on the experience with implementing the current Bathing Water and Water Framework Directives, the revised Directive provides long-term quality assessment and management methods in order to reduce both monitoring frequency and monitoring costs. Well-developed management of bathing waters and extensive information given to the public replace a pure monitoring and retrospective compliance approach.