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This management approach has public participation at its core. As a direct result of these policies, water quality has improved significantly in Europe over the past two decades. In the past decade, more than 95% of European bathing waters have been of ‘sufficient’ quality for bathing, with the majority of these being classified as ‘excellent’. As a result, bathing is now possible in centres of many previously polluted European cities. Through a review of management approaches, this report has shown how the countries of the EU have made large improvements at a number of bathing sites, opened new ones, and prohibited bathing at the ones that did not achieve adequate water quality status. Consequently, the general condition of bathing waters in the EU is getting better from year to year. The case studies listed throughout the report highlight the specific management approaches that resulted in bathing water quality improvement. However, the small proportion of European bathing waters that are consistently of a quality too low for safe bathing shows that there will be an on-going need for sound management of bathing water quality.