(1)

The amended Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (‘the Barcelona Convention’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 1999/802/EC (1) and entered into force on 9 July 2004.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 18(2), point (vi), of the Barcelona Convention, the meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols is to consider and undertake any action that may be required for the achievement of the purposes of the Barcelona Convention and the Protocols. Pursuant to Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Contracting Parties, unless otherwise provided by the Barcelona Convention, the Protocols or the financial terms of reference, substantive decisions are to be made by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Parties present and voting.

(3)

During their 22nd meeting from 7 to 10 December 2021, the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols are expected to adopt a decision (‘the Decision of the Contracting Parties’) to submit to the 78th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (‘MEPC 78’) of the International Maritime Organization in 2022 a proposal to designate the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an emission control area for sulphur oxides (Med SOx ECA) and to specify the date of entry into force.

(4)

The Decision of the Contracting Parties relates to the protection of the environment, which is a shared competence between the Union and its Member States under Article 4(2), point (e), of the Treaty. The Decision of the Contracting Parties does not fall within an area which is largely covered by Union rules concerning such protection. The Union does not intend to make use of the possibility of exercising its external competence with regard to areas covered by the Decision of the Contracting Parties in relation to which its competence has not yet been exercised internally.

(5)

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, as the Decision of the Contracting Parties concerns the submission of a proposal to MEPC 78, on behalf of an organisation to which the Union is a Party, to designate the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an emission control area for sulphur oxides (Med SOx ECA), and therefore constitutes an act having legal effects.

(6)

Since the purpose of the Decision of the Contracting Parties is to lead to the update of the requirements regarding the protection of the Mediterranean Sea, in line with the Union’s ambition to reduce pollution in the marine environment and protect human health, the Union should support the adoption of the Decision of the Contracting Parties,