Biodiversity

50 years of protecting Europe's environment: Today the European Union has the most environmentally friendly arsenal of rules in the world and has done more to tackle pressing ecological problems, such as climate change, than any other major power. But it has not always been like this. Caring for the environment did not feature in the Treaty of Rome, the document that gave birth to the modern day EU. Yet environmental problems were never far away. Europe’s love affair with the car was moving into top gear, industry was busy belching out pollutants and raw sewage was being pumped into our rivers and seas.
Located in Environmental topics › Policy instruments › Multimedia
Sources of water pollution: (Transcription of audio on video) Water can be polluted from many sources. Faecal contamination from sewage makes water unpleasant and unsafe for recreational activities such as swimming, boating or fishing. Many organic pollutants, including sewage effluent and farm and food-processing wastes consume oxygen, suffocating fish and other aquatic life. Nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates, from everything from farm fertilisers to household detergents, can 'overfertilise' the water causing the growth of large mats of algae, some of which are directly toxic. When the algae die, they sink to the water bottom, decomposing, consuming oxygen and damaging ecosystems. Chemical contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides and some industrial chemicals can threaten wildlife and human health. Sediment run-off from the land can make water muddy, blocking sunlight and, as a result, killing wildlife. And irrigation, especially when used improperly, can bring flows of salts, nutrients and other pollutants from soils into water. Source: SOER 2005
Located in Environmental topics › Biodiversity › Multimedia
Blue Flags in marinas and beaches (2004): Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Clean water at majority of EU holiday destinations: Good news if you're planning a beach holiday in Europe this summer: 92.1 % of bathing waters in the European Union now meet the minimum water quality standards set by the Bathing Water Directive. This includes the Serpentine Lake in London, which will host several Olympics events, including the Open Water Marathon Swim and the swimming section of the triathlon.
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Percentage of European coastal bathing waters complying with mandatory values (or with at least sufficient quality) and meeting guide values (or with excellent quality) for the year 2011 by sea region: Sea regions arranged by the percentage of compliance with mandatory values (or at least sufficient quality). EU Member States, Croatia and Montenegro. Five Member States (Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia) and Switzerland have no coastal bathing waters. The quality classes under the New Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) are jointed with compliance categories under the Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC).
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Reported bathing waters in Europe per million inhabitants, reported inland bathing waters per 1 000 km2 and reported coastal bathing waters per 10 km of coastline: Specific number of bathing waters per million inhabitants, per coastline and per land area
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Bathing water quality in the European Union in the 2010 and 2011 bathing seasons: Bathing water quality in the European Union in the 2010 and 2011 bathing seasons under strict and less strict rules
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Percentage of inland bathing waters in the European Union per compliance category: Trend in percentage of inland bathing waters in the European Union per compliance category
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Bathing Water Directive - Status of bathing water: The EU Bathing Waters Directive requires Member States to identify popular bathing places in fresh and coastal waters and monitor them for indicators of microbiological pollution (and other substances) throughout the bathing season which runs from May to September
Located in Data and maps › Datasets
Europe’s bathing waters continue to improve: Ninety-four per cent of bathing sites in the European Union meet minimum standards for water quality, according to the European Environment Agency's annual report on bathing water quality in Europe. Water quality is excellent at 78 % of sites and almost 2 % more sites meet the minimum requirements compared to last year's report.
Located in Press room › News