2.2.2010 Official Journal of the European Union L 30/43 COMMISSION DECISION of 22 December 2009 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, a third updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region (notified under document C(2009) 10405) (2010/43/EV) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (*), and in particular the third subparagraph of Article 4(2) thereof, Whereas: The Atlantic biogeographical region referred to in Article 1(c)(iii) of Directive 92[43/EEC comprises the territory of Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and parts of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain, as specified in the biogeo- graphical map approved on 25 April 2005 by the Committee set up by Article 20 of that Directive, here- inafter ‘the Habitats Committee’. It is necessary in the context of a process which was initiated in 1995 to make further progress in the actual establishment of the Natura 2000 network, which is an essential element of the protection of biodi- versity in the Community. The initial list and the first two updated lists of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region, within the meaning of Directive 92/43/EEC, were adopted by Commission Decisions 2004/813[EC (%), 2008/23/EC () and 2009/96/EC (). On the basis of Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92[43[EEC, the Member State concerned shall designate the sites included in the list of sites of Community importance 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. 387, 29.12.2004, p. 1. () oL () oL () O] L 12, 15.1.2008, p. 1. () oL 43, 13.2.2009, p. 466. for the Atlantic biogeographical region as special areas of conservation as soon as possible and within six years at most, establishing conservation priorities and the necessary conservation measures. In the context of a dynamic adaptation of the Natura 2000 network, the lists of sites of Community importance are reviewed. A third update of the Atlantic list is therefore necessary. On the one hand, the third update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region is necessary in order to include additional sites that have been proposed since 2007 by the Member States as sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 92/43/EEC. The obligations resulting from Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92[43[EEC are applicable as soon as possible and within six years at most from the adoption of the third updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region. On the other hand, the third update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region is necessary in order to reflect any changes in site related information submitted by the Member States following the adoption of the initial and the first two updated Community lists. In that sense, the third updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region constitutes a consolidated version of the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region. However, it should be stressed that the obligations resulting from Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92/43/EEC are applicable as soon as possible and within six years at most from the adoption of the initial or the first two updated lists of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region, depending on which list a site of Community importance was included as such for the first time. For the Atlantic biogeographical region, lists of sites proposed as sites of Community importance within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 92/43/EEC have been transmitted to the Commission between March 2002 and November 2008 by the Member States concerned in accordance with Article 4(1) of that Directive.