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The legal framework: the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols

The "Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution" (the Barcelona Convention) was adopted in 1976 and came into force in 1978.

The Contracting Parties amended it in 1995, calling it "The Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment".

The Convention and its seven Protocols, including the SPA/BD Protocol, form what is known as the Barcelona system, the MAP’s legal framework.