EEA publishes its annual EU Bathing Water report

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published the annual Bathing Water report for 2020. Based on the EU’s Bathing Water Directive (BWD), the quality of European bathing water has greatly improved in the last decades. The Directive was first adopted in 2006 and it lays down provisions for the monitoring and management of bathing water quality, and the provision of information to the public. The yearly report is prepared by the EEA in cooperation with the European Commission’s DG Environment, and for 2020 it still assesses the 28 Member States (including the UK), Albania and Switzerland.

Within the EU, 22.276 bathing waters were assessed, while 308 were reported between Albania and Switzerland. Overall, the number of bathing waters in the EU has been increasing, with 716 sites more than in 2015. The quality of these waters remains high, with better quality in coastal sites than in inland ones. Nonetheless, the Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on the assessment, with a number of inadequate bathing water samples which could not be classified given the restrictions caused by the sanitary emergency. Compared to 2019, this number increased from 3.7% to 6%.

An EU interactive map can also be found here. The full report can be consulted here.

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