According to the Annual summary report of bathing water quality in EU Member States for the year 2009, the coasts of Greece, Cyprus, France and Portugal meet almost all microbiological criteria for safe swimming, while they are on top of 20,000 coastal and inland waters of the continent.

Sampling and testing of 1273 beaches coastal waters reports that 99.8% of sea water meet the minimum required quality standards, highlighting Greece in the first place among EU Member States.

The rate of Cyprus is 99.1% (Cyprus is according to the Committee, high quality bathing waters), of France is 96.4% (France has a slight drop of 0.8% compared to 2008) and the rate of Portugal is 98.6%.

All measurement data in map format are shown at http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/interactive/bathing and the conclusions of the report can be found at http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/newsreleases/bathing-water-quality-improving-in-the-eu

Source: www.tvxs.gr