Protection, conservation and biological diversity in the North East Atlantic

1. The development of the new Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Convention and its relationship with the International Conferences for the Protection of the North Sea (North Sea Conferences) and the European Union (EU) are described. 2. It is debatable whether the EU, through its Habitats Directive, is able to take action beyond Territorial Waters and could be applied to International Waters. 3. Implementation of EC and international legislation is realized through Member States legislature. There is variation between countries. 4. An additional annex to the new OSPAR Convention was to be adopted in July 1998 to cover the protection of species and habitats in the Exclusive Economic Zones of the North East Atlantic. 5. Classification systems in the EU and the North East Atlantic are complementary to the scientific knowledge and ecological understanding which is required for sound management. 6. Through the example of the control of fisheries, it is demonstrated that the protection of fish species could be incorporated in a general framework and not separated from the rest of the marine ecosystem, especially the pelagic and benthic trophic levels. 7. Wider international collaboration is recommended, notably on biological monitoring and on the production of periodic assessments of the quality of the environment. 8. Simplification of the regulatory framework is suggested to the benefit of more integrated scientific research. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.