L 33/52 Official Journal of the European Union 8.2.2011 COMMISSION DECISION of 10 January 2011 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43EEC, a fourth updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region (notified under document C(2010) 9666) (2011/63/EU) 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 Atlantic biogeographical region referred to in Article 1(c)(ili) of Directive 92/43/EEC comprises the territories 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 Union. The initial list and the first three updated lists of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region, within the meaning of Directive 9243 EEC, were adopted by Commission Decisions 2004/813/EC (2, 2008/23/EC (3), 2009/96/EC () and 2010/43/EU (). 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 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 fourth update of the Atlantic list is therefore necessary. L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. L 387, 29.12.2004, p. 1. L 12, 15.1.2008, p. 1. L 43, 13.2.2009, p. 466. L 30, 2.2.2010, p. 43. ©) On the one hand, the fourth 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 2008 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 fourth updated list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeographical region. On the other hand, the fourth update of the list of sites of Community importance for the Atlantic biogeo- graphical 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 three updated Community lists. In that sense, the fourth 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 three 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 2009 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 most recent and definitive 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 III to Directive 92/43/EEC. () O] L 107, 24.4.1997, p. 1.