Greece received a warning from the European Commission yesterday for removing 203 beaches from its official list of bathing sites in a move that could mean the government is allowing swimming in heavily polluted waters.

EU members are required to submit lists to Brussels consisting of the country’s bathing areas, but some 11 countries have simply removed the beaches from the list when it is polluted rather than going to the trouble of cleaning it up.

Greece has removed 203 sites, or 9 percent of total swimming areas, from its lists between 1991-2004 without any explanation.

“Removal of bathing sites from the official lists should be properly and individually explained and should not be a response to pollution problems,” the Commission said.

The other 10 countries that have been sent warnings are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Yesterday’s warning also has court backing, as the European Court of Justice ruled in 2000 that the delisting of bathing sites must be properly explained and justified.

“The EU bathing water directive is helping to ensure that millions of bathers can enjoy clean bathing water during the summer months,” said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

“That is why I am concerned that some member states are no longer applying the safeguard measures of the directive to several thousand bathing waters across the EU,” he added.

Germany was the worst culprit out of the 11 states, delisting 324 coastal swimming areas, or 45.3 percent of total beaches, for the same period. The Netherlands came in second place.