Some of Europe’s prime tourist destinations are failing EU water laws, new research shows.
As millions of folk plan their summer holidays, Pisa in Italy, parts of Halkidiki in Greece, Balaton in Hungary and Ayia Napa in Cyprus was identified as among 6,311 European towns and cities which aren’t meeting the EU’s environmental standards.
Popular city break destinations corresponding to Bucharest (Romania), Sofia (Bulgaria), Madrid (Spain), Budapest (Hungary) and Rome (Italy) have also been revealed as having sub-standard water.
Even Brussels itself, the house of the european, is failing the desired tests.
Particularly worrying for the ecu tourist industry are the failures in Spain, Italy and Greece, that are many of the most often visited destinations for holidaymakers throughout Europe.
Experts said these water failures could put the health of millions of individuals in danger should and render European taxpayers accountable for fines of over €1 billion a year in total.
The UK was a number of the countries that have been fully compliant with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, a section of legislation which came out inside the 1990s to enhance water standards, that applies to the gathering, treatment and discharge of domestic and industrial waste water.
Some MEPs and experts are campaigning for improvements to water infrastructure around Europe in the course of the EU Cohesion Fund, which was arrange in 1994 to offer funding for environmental and infrastructure projects. Decisions on its latest round of spending are expected within months.
Victor Bostinaru, a Romanian MEP, who presented the findings in Brussels, said: “This report demonstrates the size of the matter that exists around the 27 EU member states. The standard of water in lots of countries has to enhance and the cash ought to be found to make it happen – starting with town of Brussels, wherein the eu Union’s institutions are based.
“As we prepare to commit billions of euros of investment to infrastructure projects, throughout the EU Cohesion Fund, we must demand improvements from these failing cities, regions and countries.”
Hach Lange, one of the vital world’s leading providers of instrumentation for water quality testing and treatment optimisation, considered the consequences as leading analytical experts on European water.
Lance Reisman, President of Hach Lange, said: “Clearly some parts of Europe have issues that need addressing, but the excellent news is that solutions are available.
“Our experience in working across Europe has proven that investment reaps significant benefits.”
The worst five country offenders are:
Romania: 2,476 failures
Spain: 1,148
Bulgaria: 901
Hungary: 631
Italy: 443