96% of bathing waters in the European Union comply with the required quality standards, while 85% are classified as “excellent” and just 1,5% as “moderate”. The overall level of quality remained stable compared to the previous year, according to data released today by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
"Europeans can swim in complete safety in the vast majority of EU bathing sites," EU Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall said in her statement.
The report covers 22.000 points examined in 2024 across all European Union countries, as well as Albania and Switzerland. Water quality is classified into four categories: “excellent”, “good”, “adequate” and “poor”, based on the levels of bacteria detected and the source of pollution – mainly from sewage and agricultural activity.
At the top of the countries with the cleanest sea is Cyprus with a percentage of 99,2% of "excellent" quality, followed by Bulgaria (97,9%), Greece (97%), Austria (95,8%) and Croatia (95,2%).
In contrast, Albania is at the bottom of the ranking, with just 16% of its waters considered to be of "excellent" quality, a drop of 25 percentage points from the previous year. Poland also remains low, although it has made some progress, reaching 58,1%.
Water quality is generally better in marine coastal areas, compared to inland waters (rivers and lakes), as coasts benefit from more frequent renewal and self-cleaning capacity.
In contrast, inland waters are more vulnerable to pollution caused by heavy rainfall or summer drought.
In 2023, 321 bathing areas were classified as "poor" quality. Compared to the previous year, 67 of them showed an improvement. However, for areas that remain below the quality limit, national authorities are obliged to temporarily prohibit bathing, take measures to limit pollution and ensure the protection of public health.
Source: pelop.gr
