The European Commission published its figures on the minimum water quality standards set by the Bathing Water Directive which show that most of the waters in the EU meet those standards. Cyprus, Croatia, Malta and Greece had excellent reports on their bathing water sites, while the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Latvia, Luxemburg and Belgium had relatively low proportions of sites meeting the strict guide values, especially as regards inland waters.

The latest annual Bathing Water Report of European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission shows that 2.1% of bathing waters in the European Union now meet the minimum water quality standards set by the Bathing Water Directive. The report describes water quality in more than 22,000 bathing sites at beaches, rivers and lakes across Europe last year. Nonetheless, a study  published in July 2011 discovered viruses in almost 40% of more than 1,400 bathing water samples collected in 9 European countries.

In addition, among the conclusions highlighted in the report, 77.1% of sites had excellent quality, i.e. complying with the most stringent guide values, an improvement of 3.5 percentage points on last year's data. Some 93.1% of coastal bathing waters were classified as ‘sufficient’, or complying with the less stringent mandatory values – a 1% increase.

On the other hand, the Commission also presented the Eye on Earth website where people can also report the state of their local water using. European citizens can find out about the water quality at their favourite swimming spot by checking the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). The site allows users to download data and check interactive maps.