27. Notes the increased activity surrounding the exploration of oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean and the Arctic; believes that the EU should promote the development of an international legal framework for the protection of the High Arctic, on lines similar to those already established for the Antarctic in the Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol on Environmental Protection; considers that for other parts of the Arctic which fall within the exclusive economic zones of EU Member States or EEA countries, there is an urgent need for the proposed regulation on the safety of offshore oil and gas to include drilling requirements which ens ...[+++]ure that remote areas are not exposed to a higher risk than other areas and that extreme operating conditions, such as long-lasting darkness, icy conditions or deep water, are accurately reflected in the authorisation process;

The conservation of fish, which includes the commercial fishing of fish and other marine living resources, is covered under these conventions and not in the protocol, which focuses on other aspects of the Antarctic ecosystem.

shipments of waste from the Antarctic into the Community which are in accordance with the requirements of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991);

Some of those special provisions have been transposed into Community law by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3943/90 of 19 December 1990 on the application of the system of observation and inspection established under Article XXIV of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, by Council Regulation (EC) No 66/98 of 18 December 1997 laying down certain conservation and control measures applicable to fishing activities in the Antarctic and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2113/96, and by Council Regulation (EC) No 1721/1999 of 29 July 1999 laying down certain control measures in respect of vessels flying the flag of Non ...[+++]-Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

A condition for the issue of a special fishing permit linked to the technical characteristics of the vessel (as introduced in 2002 in the relevant CCAMLR measure - 25/02, paragraph 5) should be inserted in this Regulation, while the basic requirements that constitute the conditions for the issue of the permit should be kept in the Council Regulation laying down certain technical measures applicable to fishing activities in the area covered by the Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.

shipments of waste from the Antarctic into the Community and in accordance with the requirements of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty;