Europe’s bathing waters safe for summer swimming Press release Image photy by Karli Cumber on Unsplash

From Europe’s coastal waters to its inland bathing sites, a large majority of Europe’s waters are safe to swim in, according to the latest European bathing water assessment for the 2024 bathing season, published today. It found that over 85% of monitored locations met the European Union’s most stringent ‘excellent’ bathing water quality standards last year, while 96% of all officially identified bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards.

The assessment and the interactive map, put together by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the European Commission, highlight where swimmers can find well managed bathing sites in Europe. The assessment inspects water suitability for bathing, focusing on monitoring bacteria which can cause potentially serious illnesses. Overall, over 22,000 bathing water sites across all 27 EU Member States, plus Albania and Switzerland were assessed. In five countries — Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria and Croatia — 95% or more of bathing waters were of excellent quality. Only 1.5% of the EU’s bathing waters were found to be of poor quality.

The quality of coastal bathing waters is generally better than that of rivers and lakes. In 2024, around 89% of coastal bathing waters in the EU were classified as excellent, compared with 78% of inland bathing waters.

Enjoying time at the beach or swimming in lakes and rivers is for many a symbol of holidays and relaxation, as we look forward to the approaching summer. The results published today show that Europeans can confidently bathe in the vast majority of the EU’s bathing sites that meet the EU’s bathing quality standards. I am committed to continuing to work to ensure high quality water for people and the environment, as part of our EU Water Resilience Strategy. Jessika Roswall,

Commissioner for Environment,

Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy

We can all be glad that a vast majority of our bathing waters are clean enough to swim in. This is thanks to systematic work under EU rules which has steadily improved the health of our waters. It shows that monitoring and coordination at the European level benefits every one of us. Of course, there is more to do to improve the cleanliness of our waters and their resilience to withstand new challenges posed by climate change and over-use. Leena Ylä-Mononen,

EEA Executive Director

Steady improvements over recent decades

Bathing water quality in Europe has improved markedly over recent decades largely thanks to EU legislation. The combined effect of systematic bacteriological monitoring pursuant to the EU’s Bathing Water Directive and large investments in urban wastewater treatment plants led to a drastic reduction in pathogens that were previously being released. Thanks to these continued efforts, bathing is now also possible in many urban areas.

While most of Europe’s bathing waters are in excellent condition from a bacteriological perspective, chemical pollution of surface and groundwaters remains significant and may be exacerbated by the changing climate. Improving water resilience for people and for the environment is therefore crucial.

Other challenges to water quality like toxic cyanobacterial blooms, which are not part of monitoring prescribed by EU bathing water rules, frequently result in bathing warnings and restrictions.

Background

Overall water quality is monitored and assessed under the EU’s Water Framework Directive and covers a broad spectrum of chemical pollutants in surface and groundwater. Chemical pollutants are not covered by bathing water monitoring even when they exceed legal thresholds that are in place to prevent environmental damage.

The assessment for today’s briefing is based on the monitoring of bathing sites across Europe that were reported to the EEA for the 2024 season. This includes sites in all EU Member States, Albania and Switzerland.

Alongside this year’s Bathing Water Briefing, the EEA has also released an updated interactive map showing the performance of each bathing site. Updated country fact sheets are also available, as well as more information on the implementation of the Directive in assessed countries.

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