The report was prepared by European Environment Agency (EEA) who are making the information  available on their website using maps and tables with detailed information on specific bathing areas (see 1stlink).
 
Of the 21,400 bathing areas monitored throughout the European Union in 2008, two thirds were on the coast and the rest were along rivers and lakes.
 
Safeguards against bacteriological & chemical contaminants
 
The goal of the original 1976 directive on the quality of bathing water aimed to ensure that coastal and inland bathing water doesn't contain  bacteriological or chemical contaminants at levels that could pose health risks. The directive is one of the EU’s oldest environmental laws and has led to the continuous improvement of bathing water quality in Europe. However, after almost 30 years, the directive needed revising to take into account the latest scientific and technical information.
 
A new directive after tough negotiations
 
The new 2006 Bathing Water directive will tighten and simplify health standards for bathing water, improve the management of bathing sites and improve public information. Parliament negotiated ruthlessly with EU ministers for three years for improved health standards.
 
The new law was approved by the Parliament in January 2006 and it should be implemented towards the end of 2014. Twelve Member States however, (Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden) have already monitored their bathing areas during the 2008 bathing season according to the parameters of the new Directive.