CELEX: 51983PC0518
Language: en
Date: 1983-09-08
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION CONCLUDING THE PROTOCOL CONCERNING SPECIALLY PROTECTED AREAS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

28.9.83                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                N o C 259/3
                                                            II
                                                    (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
                Proposal for a Council Decision concluding the Protocol concerning specially protected
                                             areas of the Mediterranean Sea
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 16 September 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     Whereas Article 4 of the Convention on the
COMMUNITIES,                                                    protection of the Mediterranean Sea against
                                                                pollution, concluded by the Community by Council
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                    Decision 77/585/EEC ( J ), empowers the Contracting
European Economic Community, and in particular                  Parties to adopt additional Protocols prescribing
Article 235 thereof,                                            measures, procedures and standards for the
                                                                implementation of the said Convention; whereas,
                                                                pursuant to this Article, the Mediterranean States
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              represented at a conference of plenipotentiaries held
                                                                in Geneva on 2 and 3 April 1982 signed the Protocol
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-               to the said Convention on specially protected areas of
liament,                                                        the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas the action programmes of the European
Communities on the environment (') stress the need              Whereas the Community has also concluded, by
to protect and to purify the sea, in order that it might        Decision 77/585/EEC, the Protocol for the
continue to play its part in the preservation and               prevention of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by
development of species, and to maintain the vital               dumping from ships and aircraft, and, by Council
ecological balance;                                             Decision 81/420/EEC (4), the Protocol concerning
                                                                cooperation          in combating      pollution    of   the
                                                                Mediterranean Sea by oil and other harmful subs-
Whereas the second action programme of the                      tances in cases of emergency and, by Council
European        Communities     on    the    environment        Decision 83/101/EEC (5), the Protocol concerning
underlines the urgent need for international solutions          the protection of the Mediterranean Sea from land-
to the problem of the development and ecological                based sources of pollution;
management of coastal regions;
Whereas the third action programme of the European              Whereas the Protocol concerning specially protected
Communities on the environment (2), of which the                areas of the Mediterranean Sea provides for the
Council and the representatives of the Governments              adoption of measures concerning trade, imports and
of the Member States approved the main principles               exports of the fauna and flora protected by it and
on 7 February 1983, makes particular reference to the           could, therefore, affect the common policy and the
need for a rational policy for the protection and               free movement of goods between Member States;
management of natural resources;
Whereas cooperation with the developing countries,              Whereas some provisions of the said draft Protocol
and     in      particular   with    the    Community's         could affect Council Directives 76/464/EEC of 4
Mediterranean partners, for the purposes of                     May 1976 on pollution caused by certain dangerous
protecting the environment is one of the prime                  substances discharged into the aquatic environment of
objectives of the second action programme of the                the Community (6), 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on
European Communities on the environment;
                                                                (')  OJ No L 240, 19. 9. 1977, p. 1.
(') OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1; OJ No C 139, 13. 6.        O    OJ No L 162, 19. 6. 1981, p. 4.
    1977, p. 1.                                                 (')  O J N o L 6 7 , 12.3. 1983, p. 1.
(2) OJ No C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.                               (6) OJ No L 129, 18. 5. 1976, p. 23.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 259/4                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             28. 9. 83
the conservation of wild birds ('), and 79/923/EEC               Whereas the Community should conclude the
of 30 October 1979 on the quality required of                    Protocol concerning specially protected areas of the
shellfish waters (2), and Council Regulation (EEC)               Mediterranean Sea in order to attain, in the course of
No 348/81 of 20 January 1981 on common rules for                 the operation of the common market, one of the
imports of cetacean products ( 3 );                              objectives of the Community in the field of the
                                                                 protection of the environment and of the quality of
Whereas the said Protocol concerning specially                   life;
protected areas of the Mediterranean sets out to
safeguard the common natural resources of that                   Whereas no provision is made in the Treaty for the
region, to preserve the diversity of the indigenous              powers necessary to this end,
species and to protect certain natural habitats by
setting up a number of specially protected areas;                HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Whereas most of the signatories to the Convention on
                                                                                        Article 1
the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against
pollution and to the annexed Protocols enjoy, within             The Protocol concerning specially protected areas of
the framework of the Community's overall approach                the Mediterranean Sea is hereby approved on behalf
to the Mediterranean, a special relationship with the            of the European Economic Community.
Community, particularly as regards cooperation;
whereas the Protocol concerning specially protected              The text of the Protocol is annexed to this Decision.
areas of the Mediterranean lays down detailed rules
for such cooperation in the sectors which it covers;                                    Article 2
Whereas the Community signed the Protocol relating               The President of the Council shall deposit the acts as
to specially protected areas of the Mediterranean Sea            provided for in Article 18 of the Protocol referred to
of 30 March 1983;                                                in Article 1.
  (») OJ No L 103, 25. 4. 1979, p. 1.
  (2) OJ No L 281, 10. 11. 1979, p. 47.
  (J) OJ No L 39, 12. 2. 1981, p. 1.