The EU has released the details of a survey on water quality around Europe, revealing that the quality of water at some of the continent’s leading tourist destinations is falling short of the required standards.
The findings raise concerns over health issues for the millions of travellers that visit the worst affected destinations each year, with 6,311 European towns and cities being cited for providing water that does not meet the EU’s environmental standards. Among them are Pisa in Italy, Ayia Napa in Cyprus and Balaton in Hungary.
Even a number of Europe’s foremost capital cities and most popular destinations for weekend city-breaks have drawn criticism for their water quality, including Rome – Italy, Madrid – Spain, Budapest – Hungary, Sofia – Bulgaria, and the home of the EU headquarters, Brussels – Belgium. But while UK residents might be putting their health on the line when holidaying at resorts in Spain, Italy and Greece, they can be satisfied that they are at little risk on home soil, with Britain being one of the nations that complies fully with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive legislation, which has been a benchmark for European water treatment and handling since the 1990’s.
A number of MEPs are pressing for funding to improve Europe’s water, and a decision on possible expenditure from the EU Cohesion Fund is expected later this year.
The report’s findings were presented by Romanian MEP, Victor Bostinaru, who, said, ‘This report demonstrates the scale of the problem that exists across the 27 EU member states. The quality of water in many countries has to improve and the money needs to be found to make it happen – starting with the city of Brussels, in which the European Union’s institutions are based. As we prepare to commit billions of euros of investment to infrastructure projects, through the EU Cohesion Fund, we must demand improvements from these failing cities, regions and countries.’
