Veiligheid van zwemwater aangegeven EU-logo met smileys (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Parliament is set to vote in May on a resolution that sets higher standards for bathing water at EU beaches.

The text, approved on Thursday 22 April in the Environment Committee by 30 votes in favour versus seven against with six abstentions, will put more responsibility on regional and local authorities, who will be required to place symbols, in the shape of a smiley face, to inform bathers of the quality of the water.

If the resolution is approved, it will be up to the EU Commission to develop, within two years, a standard system which separates the quality of bathing water into three categories -"excellent", "good" and "bad".

The smileys would be displayed at beaches as well as on an EU website, and would not replace the current blue flag system, which is used at EU beaches on a voluntary basis.

But member states and the European Parliament remain at odds over the issue, as it falls under the co-decision procedure, through which European leaders and MEPs share decision-making powers.

According to a parliamentary press release, member states are keen on a fourth category to be introduced for "sufficient" quality in non-coastal waters and to reduce the scope of the directive away from recreational water use, a move which would in practice protect some water users (bathers) while leaving others (surfers, divers, sailors) unprotected.

"The Council [member states] is lacking ambition", said Dutch MEP Jules Maaten, the proposal's rapporteur, underscoring that there could be a "conflict" approaching. Mr Maaten also said that under the new text, local authorities would be able to show that their beaches are cleaner than their competitors'.

The move will also revise the directive currently in place since 1976, under which bathers are only warned of pollution levels measured in the previous year.

Surfer protests

A delegation of UK and French surfers, wearing wetsuits and carrying surfboards, staged a demonstration with the Green Group at the European Parliament in Brussels, urging MEP's to back Mr Maaten's proposal.

According to the British NGO Surfers Against Sewage, "more and more people" are playing water sports such as surfing, windsurfing, kayaking and diving. Due to the nature of these sports, which include greater immersion and ingestion of water, the health risks are higher if the waters are found to be contaminated.

"Ear, nose and throat infections are all common amongst surfers, but Hepatitis A, Meningitis or Ecoli 0157 all survive in sewage polluted water and represent a greater threat to the recreational water user", the group said in a statement.