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News 21st October 2003 British tourism and water sports will suffer under new clean beach proposals New EU rules on bathing water, supported by the European Parliament today, could remove the coveted "blue flag" from many of Britain's beaches. Socialist MEPs supported measures to impose new standards by which beaches are classified as 'good' or 'excellent' without providing any perceptible evidence of benefits to public health. Water sports enthusiasts
including canoeists and windsurfers believe that they could be banned
from inland waters because land owners and public authorities will now
have to meet standards designed for swimming and not sporting activities. "Many British beaches could lose their blue flags as a result of this proposal. "MEPs have missed an opportunity to bring old legislation up to date, simplify it and make it more flexible and improve information to the public about the quality of bathing waters across Europe. Instead, they have imposed rules for no discernible health reason and threatened blue flag status on many British beaches." |
