More than 85 percent of bathing water sites monitored across Europe in 2016 met the most stringent ‘excellent’ quality standards — meaning they were mostly free from pollutants harmful to human health and the environment, according to the annual bathing water quality report published today. Over 96 percent of bathing water sites met minimum quality requirements set out under European Union rules.

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Biodiversity plays a key role in the functioning of ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services essential for human well-being. However, Europe's biodiversity continues to be eroded, and the main EU target of 'halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services' by 2020 remains a serious challenge.

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Application of the rules that underpin the European Union’s Emissions Trading System is improving, with more complete data being reported by EU Member States, according to a new assessment published by the European Environment Agency today. However, improvements are still needed in monitoring and reporting, both by operators and countries.

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Average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of new vans registered in 2016 in the European Union (EU) fell by 4.5 grammes (g) per kilometre, compared to the previous year. The reported fuel efficiency improved by 2.7%, according to preliminary data published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). This is the highest annual reduction since 2013.

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With an estimated 100 million Europeans affected by harmful levels, road traffic is by far the largest source of noise pollution in Europe, according to a new assessment published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today.

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