L 350/36 Official Journal of the European Union 21.12.2013 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 7 November 2013 adopting a second updated list of sites of Community importance for the Steppic biogeographical region (notified under document C(2013) 7352) (2013/736/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 Steppic biogeographical region referred to in Article 1(c)(iii) of Directive 92[43/EEC comprises parts of the Union territory of Romania, as specified in the biogeographical map approved on 20 April 2005 by the Committee set up by Article 20 of that Directive, here- inafter 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 updated list of sites of Community importance for the Steppic biogeographical region, within the meaning of Directive 9243 /EEC, were adopted by Commission Decision 2008/966/EC (%) and Commission Implementing Decision 2013/28/EU (%). 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 Steppic 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. 0] L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. () O] L 344, 20.12.2008, p. 117. O] L 24, 26.1.2013, p. 643. S ) 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 Steppic biogeo- graphical region is therefore necessary. On the one hand, the update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Steppic biogeographical region is necessary in order to include additional sites that have been proposed since 2011 by Romania as sites of Community importance for the Steppic biogeo- graphical region within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 92[43/EEC. For those 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 Steppic biogeographical region is necessary in order to reflect any changes in site- related information submitted by Romania following the adoption of the initial and the first updated Union lists. In that sense, the updated list of sites of Community importance for the Steppic biogeographical region constitutes a consolidated version of the list of sites of Community importance for the Steppic 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 92/43EEC 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 Steppic 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 June 2007 and October 2012 in accordance with Article 4(1) of that Directive. The lists of proposed sites were accompanied by information on each site. Since 2012, that information was supplied in the format established by Commission Implementing Decision 2011/484/EU of 11 July 2011 concerning a site information format for Natura 2000 sites (). (*) OJ L 198, 30.7.2011, p. 39.