CYPRUS and Greece have the cleanest seas in the EU, according to the annual bathing water report presented by the European Commission.
According to the 2005 report, 100 bathing areas were monitored in Cyprus, all with sufficient sampling frequency.
“The bathing water quality was excellent in the 2005 bathing season in all coastal bathing areas. The results from the monitoring of the water quality in all bathing areas indicate 100 per cent compliance both with the mandatory as well as with the more stringent guide values,” said the report.
It added that in comparison with last year, nine areas moved from not frequently sampled to compliance with the stringent guide values. Ten areas showed an improved quality: five were not in compliance last year and moved to compliance with the guide values, while five areas moved from compliance with the mandatory values to the guide values.
“No decline in water quality was observed in any of the bathing areas. As a result, Cyprus reached full compliance with the guide values,” the report said.
The stability index is 81 per cent, which means that approximately eight out of every ten bathing areas maintained the quality which they achieved during the previous bathing season.
A European Commission statement said a large majority of bathing sites across the EU-25 continued to meet EU cleanliness standards in 2005.
However, the proportion of compliant sites decreased slightly in coastal areas and more significantly at inland bathing sites like lakes and rivers. Coming just before the bathing season begins, the report provides useful water quality information for the millions of people who visit Europe's beaches each summer.
Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for Environment, said: ''It is very encouraging that the water continues to be clean for bathers at well over 95 per cent of Europe's coastal waters. However, I am concerned at the worsening compliance rate at inland bathing sites and would urge public authorities to step up the required testing and clean-up efforts.”
The report shows complete results for 20,914 bathing areas in the EU-25, 14,230 of them coastal and 6,684 inland.
Four EU-10 Member States reported for the first time this year: Hungary, Latvia, Malta and Poland. However, these Member States had a high number of bathing areas that were insufficiently sampled – 39 per cent of the coastal areas and 43 per cent of the freshwater zones.
This significantly influenced the non-compliance figures for the EU-25 as a whole. The other six EU-10 Member States, reporting for the second time, showed a clear overall improvement in their results.
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