L 77/106 Official Journal of the European Union 19.3.2008 COMMISSION DECISION of 25 January 2008 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43[EEC, a first updated list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region (notified under document number C(2008) 271) (2008/218EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, 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: o) () ) The Alpine biogeographical region referred to in Arti- cle 1(c)(iii) of Directive 92/43/EEC, comprises the Com- munity territory of the Alps (Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Slovenia), the Pyrenees (France and Spain), the Apennine mountains (Italy), the northern Fennoscandian mountains (Sweden and Finland), the Carpathian moun- tains (Poland, Slovakia, Romania) and the Balkan, Rila, Pirin and Rhodope Mountains (Bulgaria) as specified in the biogeographical map approved on 25 April 2005 by the Committee set up by Article 20 of that Directive, hereinafter the ‘Habitats Committee’. It is necessary in the context of a process initiated since 1995 to make further progress in the actual establishment of the Natura 2000 network, which is an essential element of the protection of biodiversity in the Community. An initial list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region, within the meaning of Directive 92/43[EEC was adopted by Commission Decision 2004/69/EC (3). 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 for the Alpine 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. The update of that initial list is therefore necessary. On the one hand, the update of the initial list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region is necessary in order to include additional sites that have been proposed since 2004 by the Member States as OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. Directive as last amended by Directive 2006/105/EC (O] L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 368). O] L 14, 21.1.2004, p. 21. (8) (10) sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeo- graphical 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 first updated list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region. On the other hand, the update of the initial list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region is necessary in order to reflect any changes in site related information submitted by the Member States following the adoption of the Community list. In that sense, the first updated list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region consti- tutes a consolidated version of the initial list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine 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 list of sites of Community importance for the Alpine biogeographical region. This Decision does not cover the territories of Bulgaria and Romania as those Member States initiated the transmission of their site proposals to the Commission after their accession. For the Alpine 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 September 2006, in accordance with Article 4(1) of the Directive, by Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The lists of proposed sites were accompanied by informa- tion on each site, supplied in the format established by Commission Decision 97/266/EC of 18 December 1996 concerning a site information format for proposed Natura 2000 sites (?). That information includes the most recent and definitive map of the site transmitted by the Member State in question, the site’s name, location and extent, and the data yielded by application of the criteria specified in Annex III to Directive 92/43/EEC. () OJ L 107, 24.41997, p. 1.