No L 68/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 3. 84 11 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL DECISION of 1 March 1984 on the conclusion of the Protocol concerning Mediterranean specially protected areas (84/132/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ('), Whereas the action programmes of the European Communities on the environment (%) stress the need to protect and to purify the sea, in order for it to continue to play its part in the preservation and development of species, and to maintain the vital ecological balance ; Whereas the second action programme of the Euro- pean Communities on the environment underlines the urgent need for international solutions to the problem of the development and ecological management of coastal regions; Whereas the third action programme of the European Communities on the environment (*), of which the Council and the representatives of the Governments of the Member States approved the main principles on 7 () OJ No C 322, 28. 11. 1983, p. 278. (3 OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1 and OJ No C 139, 13. 6. 1977, p. 1. ) () OJ No C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1. February 1983, makes particular reference to the need for a rational policy for the protection and manage- ment of natural resources ; Whereas cooperation with the developing countries, and in particular with the Community’s Mediterranean partners, for the purposes of protecting the environ- ment is one of the objectives of the second action programme of the European Communities on the environment ; Whereas Article 4 of the Convention on the protec- tion of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution, approved by the Community by Decision 77/585/ EEC (*), empowers the contracting parties to adopt Additional Protocols prescribing measures, procedures and standards for the implementation of the said Convention ; whereas, pursuant to this Article, the Mediterranean States represented at a conference of - plenipotentiaries held in Geneva on 2 and 3 April 1982 signed a Protocol concerning Mediterranean specially protected areas ; Whereas the Community has also approved, by Deci- sion 75/585/EEC, the Protocol for the prevention of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping from ships and aircraft, and, by Decision 81/420/EEC (), the Protocol concerning cooperation in combating pollu- tion of the Mediterranean Sea by oil and other harmful substances in cases of emergency and, by Decision 83/101/EEC (¥), the Protocol concerning the protection of the Mediterranean Sea from land-based sources of polution ; () OJ No L 240, 19. 9. 1977, p. 1. () OJ No L 162, 19. 6. 1981, p. 4. (9 OJ No L 67, 12. 3. 1983, p. 1.