Cyprus beaches cleanest in Europe: EU report

Cyprus has the cleanest bathing areas in the European Union which meet the stringent hygiene standards, according to an EU report released on Thursday.

The report said compliance in Cyprus in 2006 with mandatory values and the more stringent guide values stood at 99 percent, with 100 coastal bathing areas being monitored from May 15 to October 31.

"This is the third year that Cyprus has reported data on bathing water quality in coastal areas.

This is a remarkable effort, considering that Cyprus joined the EU only in 2004," the report said.

The annual bathing water report presented by the European Commission revealed that the large majority of bathing sites across the European Union met EU hygiene standards in 2006. Ninety- six percent of coastal bathing areas and 89 percent of bathing sites in rivers and lakes were in compliance with the mandatory values.

Cyprus topped the list of member states that comply with EU hygiene standards with 99 percent, followed by Greece with 96.9 percent. Spain, Italy and Ireland were also among the first five with cleanest beaches.

EU member states are obliged to report every year on the quality of coastal and freshwater bathing areas located within their territory. A total of 21,094 bathing areas were monitored in 2006.