Article 1

The Commission is hereby authorised to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, as regards matters falling within the Union's competence and in respect of which the Union has adopted rules, on the elements of a draft text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction at meetings of the UN Preparatory Committee established under UN General Assembly Resolution 69/292.