Nov. 30, 2008
Last summer, inspectors tested bathing water cleanliness at 14, 552 coastal beaches and 6, 816 inland bathing spots throughout the EU, discovering that 95 percent of coastal sites meet or surpass the bloc's mandatory cleanliness standards, with 88.7 percent of river and lake sites making the grade.
While Latvia, Finland and the Netherlands earned a 100-percent clean slate for coastal bathing waters, Italy had to turn swimmers away from 300 beaches during the season. Two recent EU members, however, have the most work to do. Just 68.4 percent of Slovenia's Adriatic beaches are deemed clean enough, while just 28.6 percent of Romania's black sea beaches have passed muster.
Not only does Romania face a tougher challenge percentage-wise, it also has a longer coastline. Romania's Black Sea coastal region stretches for 244 km, while the Adriatic coast of Slovenia is comparatively small at just 46 km.
