Attachment

PREAMBLE

THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,

BEING PARTIES to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, adopted at Barcelona on 16 February 1976,

BEARING IN MIND Article 7 of the said Convention,

BEARING IN MIND the increase in the activities concerning exploration and exploitation of the Mediterranean seabed and its subsoil,

RECOGNISING that the pollution which may result therefrom represents a serious danger to the environment and to human beings,

DESIROUS of protecting and preserving the Mediterranean Sea from pollution resulting from exploration and exploitation activities,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Protocols related to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and, in particular, the Protocol concerning Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency, adopted at Barcelona on 16 February 1976, and the Protocol concerning Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas, adopted at Geneva on 3 April 1982,

BEARING in mind the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982 and signed by many Contracting Parties,

RECOGNISING the differences in levels of development among the coastal States, and taking account of the economic and social imperatives of the developing countries,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: