Source: www.mepielan-ebulletin.gr

by Tullio Scovazzi, Professor of International Law, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy

The general rules of international law on the regime and extent of maritime zones within national jurisdiction, as set forth in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), apply also in semi-enclosed seas, such as the Mediterranean Sea. Despite a certain number of maritime boundaries waiting to be agreed upon by the Mediterranean States concerned, there is no doubt that States bordering enclosed or semi-enclosed seas are entitled to establish exclusive economic zones whenever they wish to do so, even though for geographical reasons they cannot claim a full size 200-mile zone. International law does not prevent States bordering seas of limited dimensions from establishing their own exclusive economic zones, provided that maritime boundaries are not unilaterally imposed by one State on its adjacent or opposite neighbouring States.

In the case of the maritime zones established in Mediterranean Sea, which is surrounded by twenty-two coastal States, a number of peculiarities must be taken into account that make the present picture particularly complex.

Not all the Mediterranean coastal States have so far decided to establish an exclusive economic zone.

Some coastal States have proclaimed beyond the territorial sea sui generis zones, namely a fishing zone or an ecological protection zone. While neither of them is mentioned in the UNCLOS, they are not prohibited either. They encompass only some of the rights that can be exercised within the exclusive economic zone. Such a fragmentation of rights seems compatible with the applicable rules of international law, also on the basis of the general principle that the right to do less is implied in the right to do more (in maiore stat minus). The current picture of national coastal zones is summarized in the full article.

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