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Water in over 6,000 towns and cities across Europe is failing EU environmental standards, putting the health of millions of people at risk and rendering taxpayers liable for fines of over €1 billion a year, new research maintains. Brussels itself, the home of the European Commission, is among 6,311 areas which are not meeting the requirements.
Victor Bostinaru, a Romanian MEP, who presented the findings at a recent meeting in the EU, said: “As we prepare to commit billions of euros of investment to infrastructure projects, through the EU Cohesion Fund, we must demand improvements from these failing cities, regions and countries. Every country needs to apportion funds to meet minimum standards of water quality that we should all expect across Europe. Investing in better water treatment systems will safeguard public health, protect delicate ecosystems, save energy, reduce chemical use, support industry and even provide jobs.”
Some of the continent’s most popular tourist destinations are not fully compliant with EU water laws, the research showed, including Pisa in Italy, Halkidiki in Greece, Balaton in Hungary and Ayia Napa in Cyprus.
The worst five country offenders are: Romania: 2,476 failures; Spain: 1,148; Bulgaria: 901; Hungary: 631 and Italy: 443.
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