L 24/464 Official Journal of the European Union 26.1.2013 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 16 November 2012 adopting a sixth updated list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region (notified under document C(2012) 8229) (2013/27/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: (1) The Boreal biogeographical region referred to in Article 1(c)(iii) of Directive 92[43/EEC comprises parts of the Union territories of Finland and Sweden and the Union territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as specified in the biogeographical map approved on 20 April 2005 by the Committee set up by Article 20 of that Directive, hereinafter the ‘Habitats Committee’. (2) 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 Union. (3)  The initial list and the first five updated lists of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region, within the meaning of Directive 92/43[EEC, were adopted by Commission Decisions 2005/101/EC (3,  2008/24[EC (),  2009/94/EC (4), 2010/46/EU (°) and 2011/84/EU (¢), and Implementing Decision 2012/11/EU (7). On the basis of Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92[43[EEC, the Member State concerned has to designate the sites included in the list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeo- graphical region as special areas of conservation as soon as possible and within six years at most, establishing conservation priorities and the necessary conservation measures. (4)  In the context of a dynamic adaptation of the Natura 2000 network, the lists of sites of Community importance are reviewed. An update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region is therefore necessary. () O] L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. () O] L 40, 11.2.2005, p. 1. () O] L 12, 15.1.2008, p. 118. () O] L 43, 13.2.2009, p. 245. () O] L 30, 2.2.2010, p. 403. () O] L 40, 12.2.2011, p. 1. () O] L 10, 13.1.2012, p. 130. ©) (10) On the one hand, the update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region is necessary in order to include additional sites that have been proposed since 2010 by Member States as sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeo- graphical region within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 92[43/EEC. For these additional sites, the obligations resulting from Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92/43[EEC should apply as soon as possible and within six years at most from the adoption of this Decision. On the other hand, the update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region is necessary in order to reflect any changes in site-related information submitted by Member States following the adoption of the initial and the first five updated Union lists. In that sense, this updated list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeo- graphical region constitutes a consolidated version of the list of sites of Community importance for the Boreal biogeographical region. It should be stressed that, for any site included in this Decision, the obligations resulting from Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of Directive 92/43[EEC should apply as soon as possible and within six years at most from the adoption of the list of sites of Community importance in which the site was included for the first time. For the Boreal biogeographical region, lists of sites proposed as sites of Community importance within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 92/43/EEC were trans- mitted to the Commission between January 2003 and October 2011 by the Member States concerned in accordance with Article 4(1) of that Directive. The lists of proposed sites were accompanied by information on each site, supplied in the format estab- lished by Commission Decision 97/266/EC  of 18 December 1996 concerning a site information format for proposed Natura 2000 sites (%). That information includes the map of the site transmitted by the Member States concerned, name, location and extent of the site, and the data yielded by application of the criteria specified in Annex Il to Directive 92/43EEC. On the basis of the draft list drawn up by the Commission in agreement with each of the Member States concerned, which also identifies sites hosting priority natural habitat types or priority species, an (®) OJ L 107, 24.4.1997, p. 1.