CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Marine regions or subregions
Article 4
1
Member States shall, when implementing their obligations under this Directive, take due account of the fact that marine waters covered by their sovereignty or jurisdiction form an integral part of the following marine regions:
a
the Baltic Sea;
b
the North-east Atlantic Ocean;
c
the Mediterranean Sea;
d
the Black Sea.
2
Member States may, in order to take into account the specificities of a particular area, implement this Directive by reference to subdivisions at the appropriate level of the marine waters referred to in paragraph 1, provided that such subdivisions are delimited in a manner compatible with the following marine subregions:
a
in the North-east Atlantic Ocean:
1. the Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat, and the English Channel;
2. the Celtic Seas;
3. the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast;
4. in the Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesian biogeographic region, being the waters surrounding the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands;
b
in the Mediterranean Sea:
1. the Western Mediterranean Sea;
2. the Adriatic Sea;
3. the Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea;
4. the Aegean-Levantine Sea.
Member States shall inform the Commission of any subdivisions by the date specified in the first subparagraph of Article 26(1) but may revise these upon completion of the initial assessment referred in Article 5(2), point (a)(i).