Acknowledging that public authorities hold environmental information in the public interest,

Acknowledging that the landscape is an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere:

Acknowledging that precaution underlies the concerns of all the Parties and is embedded within this Convention,

Acknowledging that it is incumbent on all democratic nations to establish a society founded in freedom, security and justice;

Acknowledging that there is clear scientific evidence that prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke causes adverse health and developmental conditions for children,

Acknowledging that heavy metals are natural constituents of the Earth's crust and that many heavy metals in certain forms and appropriate concentrations are essential to life,

Acknowledging that the effectiveness and safety of United Nations operations are enhanced where such operations are conducted with the consent and cooperation of the host State,

Acknowledging that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity and that there is the expectation of a broad range of environmental, economic and social benefits from those investments,

Acknowledging that the Arctic ecosystems and especially its indigenous people, who subsist on Arctic fish and mammals, are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants,

Acknowledging that the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue,

Acknowledging that desertification and drought are problems of global dimension in that they affect all regions of the world and that joint action of the international community is needed to combat desertification and/or mitigate the effects of drought,

acknowledging that offering encouragement and mutual protection to such investment, based on international Agreements, will contribute to stimulating business ventures, which foster the prosperity of both Contracting Parties,

Acknowledging that the provision of new and additional financial resources and appropriate access to relevant technologies can be expected to make a substantial difference in the world's ability to address the loss of biological diversity,

ACKNOWLEDGING that implementation of this Convention should be accompanied by other effective measures for protecting cultural objects, such as the development and use of registers, the physical protection of archaeological sites and technical co-operation,

Acknowledging that tobacco control at all levels and particularly in developing countries and in countries with economies in transition requires sufficient financial and technical resources commensurate with the current and projected need for tobacco control activities,

Acknowledging that, despite past or ongoing scientific research, knowledge of the biology, ecology, and population dynamics of cetaceans is deficient, and that it is necessary to develop co-operation for research and monitoring of these species in order to fully implement conservation measures;

Acknowledging that the European Union has assigned to the European Police Office (Europol) the driving role as the EU law enforcement body supporting the fight against organized crime and other forms of serious crime and seeking to reach operational complementarities for the mutual benefit of SELEC and Europol;

acknowledging the fact that the simplification of visa issuance is in the common interest of both States;

Acknowledging that the creation of the European Fund for the Support of Co-production and Distribution of Creative Cinematographic and Audiovisual Works, Eurimages, meets the concern encouraging European cinematographic co-production and that a new driving force has thus been given to the development of cinematographic co-productions in Europe;

acknowledging the important potential benefits that may arise from competitive air services and viable air services industries;

acknowledging that effective implementation of such an Agreement will require assistance to be provided to some Range States for research, training and monitoring of migratory waterbird species and their habitats, for the management of those habitats as well as for the establishment or improvement of scientific and administrative institutions for the implementation of this Agreement,

Members recognize the inherent value of domestic transparency of government decision-making on trade policy matters for both Members' economies and the multilateral trading system, and agree to encourage and promote greater transparency within their own systems, acknowledging that the implementation of domestic transparency must be on a voluntary basis and take account of each Member's legal and political systems.

acknowledging the fact that simplification of visa issuance is the common interest of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Poland,

Acknowledging that the conservation, exploration, collection, characterization, evaluation and documentation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are essential in meeting the goals of the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action and for sustainable agricultural development for this and future generations, and that the capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to undertake such tasks needs urgently to be reinforced;

Acknowledging further that special provision is required to meet the needs of developing countries, including the provision of new and additional financial resources and appropriate access to relevant technologies,

Acknowledging the important contribution that United Nations and associated personnel make in respect of United Nations efforts in the fields of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace-keeping, peace-building and humanitarian and other operations,

Considering that, to be able to assert this right and observe this duty, citizens must have access to information, be entitled to participate in decision-making and have access to justice in environmental matters, and acknowledging in this regard that citizens may need assistance in order to exercise their rights,

Acknowledging further that effective implementation of such an agreement will require that assistance be provided, in a spirit of solidarity, to some Range States for research, training, and monitoring of cetaceans and their habitats, as well as for the establishment or improvement of scientific and administrative institutions;

Acknowledging the benefits to the health and well-being of present and future generations that will follow if the need to protect and improve people's health is taken into account as an integral part of strategic environmental assessment, and recognizing the work led by the World Health Organization in this respect,

Acknowledging further that plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are the raw material indispensable for crop genetic improvement, whether by means of farmers' selection, classical plant breeding or modern biotechnologies, and are essential in adapting to unpredictable environmental changes and future human needs;

considering that the European School system is 'sui generis`; considering that it constitutes a form of cooperation between the Member States and between them and the European Communities while fully acknowledging the Member States' responsibility for the content of teaching and the organization of their educational system, and for their cultural and linguistic diversity;

AWARE of the need, in pursuit of this objective, to take measures to avoid any situations arising, with the result that applicants for asylum are left in doubt for too long as regards the likely outcome of their applications and concerned to provide all applicants for asylum with a guarantee that their applications will be examined by one of the Member States and to ensure that applicants for asylum are not referred successively from one Member State to another without any of these States acknowledging itself to be competent to examine the application for asylum;

ACKNOWLEDGING that change in the Earth's climate and its adverse effects are a common concern of humankind;

ACKNOWLEDGING that special provision is required to meet the needs of developing countries for these substances,

ACKNOWLEDGING that a primary purpose of any international technological standard is to, inter alia, improve communication and facilitate trade;

acknowledging that the separation, storage, transportation and use of plutonium require particular measures to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation;

Acknowledging that the measures laid down under points 1 and 2 of the Decision of the Executive Committee of 15 December 1997 (SCH/Com-ex (97)32) have been introduced,

ACKNOWLEDGING that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity and that there is the expectation of a broad range of environmental, economic and social benefits from those investments,

ACKNOWLEDGING that the conditions under which inspections and formalities are carried out may be extensively harmonized without impairing their purpose, their proper implementation or their effectiveness;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the provision of new and additional financial resources and appropriate access to relevant technologies can be expected to make a substantial difference in the world's ability to address the loss of biological diversity,

ACKNOWLEDGING that the preparatory stage has done much, in accordance with the objectives of the Association Agreement, to strengthen economic relations in general, and to expand trade in particular, between the European Economic Community and Turkey;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the sustainable use of wild animals for human benefit is in keeping with the principles of the World Conservation Strategy, the World Commission on Environment and Development and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development;

Recognising and acknowledging that Greece has already satisfied the requirements for the full application of the Schengen Convention in the fields of visas, police and judicial cooperation, the fight against drug trafficking, the Schengen Information System and data protection,

Such authorization shall be subject to the condition that the authorized consignor has previously given those authorities a written undertaking acknowledging that he is the principal for all Community transit operations carried out under cover of Community transit documents bearing the special stamp.

ACKNOWLEDGING that the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions;

'ACKNOWLEDGING that special provision is required to meet the needs of developing countries, including the provision of additional financial resources and access to relevant technologies, bearing in mind that the magnitude of funds necessary is predictable, and the funds can be expected to make a substantial difference in the world's ability to address the scientifically established problem of ozone depletion and its harmful effects,'.

Such authorization shall be subject to the condition that the authorized consignor has previously given those authorities a written undertaking acknowledging that he is liable, without prejudice to any criminal proceedings, for the payment of any duties and other charges which have not been paid and for the repayment of any financial benefits which have been wrongly obtained following the use of control copy T5 forms bearing the imprint of the special stamp.

Acknowledging that international cooperation by all States, including those which are not affected at domestic level by the problem of racism and xenophobia, is necessary to prevent the perpetrators of such offences from exploiting the fact that racist and xenophobic activities are classified differently in different States by moving from one country to another in order to escape criminal proceedings or avoid serving sentences and thus pursue their activities with impunity;

ACKNOWLEDGING FURTHER that special provision is required to meet the needs of developing countries, including the provision of new and additional financial resources and appropriate access to relevant technologies,