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2.4.4.      Coastal waters

Coastal waters represent the interface between land and ocean, and in the context of the Water Framework Directive coastal waters include water, that has not been designated as transitional water, extending one nautical mile from a baseline defined by the land points where territorial waters are measured.

All European coastal waters have, to a varying degree, been affected by eutrophication and this has led to nuisance and toxic algal blooms, loss of benthic habitats by shading out benthic vegetation and eradication of benthic fauna due to oxygen depletion as well as fish kills.

The EU has a coastline of 68 000 km. When EEA member countries Turkey, Iceland and Norway are also included, the coastline length is 185 000 km (EEA 2010). Almost half of the EU's population lives less than 50 km from the sea, the majority concentrated in urban areas along the coast. In 2001, 70 million people or 14 % of the entire EU population lived within 500 meters of the coast. The sea is Europe's most popular holiday destination: 63 % European holiday makers choose the seaside as their holiday destination.

Eighteen Member States reported more than 2770 coastal water bodies from 97 RBDs. The total area of the reported coastal waters is more than 265 000 km². The average area of the reported coastalwater bodies is 97 km² (Table 2.6)Two Member States: Estonia and the Netherlands; had average size of coastal water bodies greater than 700 km².