§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to the action taken by the European Commission in the European Court of Justice against the Government for their alleged failure to ensure compliance with the minimum pollution levels set down in the bathing water quality directive. [HL4027]
§ Lord WhittyThe Government are committed to improving the quality of UK bathing waters and have explained to the Commission the measures in hand to increase compliance against the bathing water directive standards. Progress is being made and in 1999 the UK had its best results ever, achieving 91 per cent compliance with the mandatory coliform standards. We have set a target to ensure at least 97 per cent of English bathing waters meet the mandatory coliform standards by the 2005 bathing season.
§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many British beaches have been named by the European Commission as failing to meet European Union bathing water standards in 1998, 1999 and 2000. [HL4026]
§ Lord WhittyIn its annual report on the quality of bathing waters the European Commission named 56 and 47 UK beaches as failing to meet the bathing water standards in the years 1998 and 1999 respectively. The report for the 2000-bathing season is not yet available, although reports detailing past results can be found in the Library. The annual European Commission report is based on monitoring undertaken by the national authorities.