WRITTEN QUESTION E-2460/02 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Beach cleanliness.
Date: 2002-09-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: bathing water, environmental standard, littoral, quality of the environment, water analysis

6.3.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 52 E/173

What is more, this approach is also explicitly mentioned in the document that the Commission presented
to the Seville European Council (21 and 22 June 2002) regarding Article 299 of the EC Treaty and the
implementation of the sustainable development strategy for the outermost regions.

In addition, the Commission has been able to meet with a delegation of representatives of the fisheries
sector in the Azores. The meeting provided an opportunity to hold an in-depth exchange of views on the
characteristics of the sector in the region. The information presented by the delegation, especially when
combined with that given by the other outermost regions, provides a detailed basis for taking their needs
into consideration in the context of the reform of the CFP, in line with the Commission’s commitments.

(1) COM(2001) 135 final.

(2003/C 52 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2459/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 August 2002)

Subject: Water purity

Is the Commission satisfied that the standards used in testing bathing beaches for the cleanliness of sea
water are stringent enough in the light of recent evidence?

(2003/C 52 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2460/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(4 September 2002)

Subject: Beach cleanliness

Will the Commission estimate the proportion of EU bathing beaches approved as meeting minimum
standards of water cleanliness in each year for the last five years?

Joint answer
to Written Questions P-2459/02 and E-2460/02
given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 September 2002)

The 1976 Bathing Water Directive (Council Directive 76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975 concerning the
quality of bathing water (1)) reflects the state of knowledge and experience of the early 1970s, both as
regards the technical-scientific basis, the managerial approach and the involvement of the public. This is
one of the reasons why the Commission is scheduled to make a proposal to revise the Directive.

The water quality standards which will be brought forward in the new Directive are based on recent World
Health Organisation (WHO) research and represent the latest scientific/technical knowledge.

Every year before the start of the bathing season, the Commission publishes a report on the quality of
19 000 bathing waters in the EU. The report publishes the degree of compliance of bathing waters with
respect to two standards: the legally binding and imperative standard and the stricter guide standard, both
defined by the above-mentioned 1976 Bathing Water Directive. The report is published in document
form (2) and can also be found on the Internet (3).

C 52 E/174

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2003

Over the last five years, compliance figures for coastal and fresh water were as follows:

Member States as a whole (1)

Year

Total number
of bathing areas

C(I) (%) (2)

C(G) (%) (3)

Results from 1997 to 2001

Coastal zones

Freshwater zones

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

13 129

13 218

11 435

11 502

13 429

6 180

6 004

4 376

4 338

5 783

93,3

94,6

95,6

96,5

95,8

79,8

86,5

90,2

93,6

91,2

82,8

83,8

87,3

88,4

86,7

63,5

63,6

63,6

70,4

66,9

(1) Details of Member States included in the full report.
(2)
(3)

Percentage of bathing waters compliant to imperative values.
Percentage of bathing waters compliant to guide values.

The Commission refers to the report for more detailed figures and for a technical explanation of the
imperative and guide values.

(1) OJ L 31, 5.2.1976.
(2)
(3) http://www.europa.eu.int/water/cgi-bin/bw.pl and http://www.europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/report/eu.html.

ISBN 92-894-3193-8, available from OPOCE.

(2003/C 52 E/192)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2461/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(4 September 2002)

Subject: Untreated effluent

Will the Commission estimate how much untreated effluent is discharged into the EU’s seas and rivers
based on the latest available data compared with five and ten years ago?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 2002)

Information on untreated sewage effluents on European wide level, is, inter alia, currently evaluated by the
joint questionnaire 2002 of Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD). This evaluation will allow estimating existing untreated sewage discharges, and also compare
recent data with data of ten or more years ago.

In addition, a Commission report on urban waste water treatment (cid:1) based on Council Directive 91/271/
EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (1) as amended by Commission Directive
98/15/EC of 27 February 1998 (2) (cid:1) is under preparation, which will give information on the present
treatment situation in comparison with former years taking also into account rough estimations on still
untreated effluents.