Exclusive economic zone

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Zones under the Law of the Sea according to the Convention on the Law of the Sea
EEZ in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans
EEZ in the Pacific Ocean

As exclusive economic zone ( EEZ , Eng. Exclusive Economic Zone , EEZ) 55 of the type. Convention (UNCLOS / UNCLOS) of the United Nations the maritime area beyond the territorial sea called. The territorial sea and the EEZ together may be up to 200  nautical miles ( nautical miles ) (370.4  km ) from the baseline (hence the 200-mile zone ). In it, the neighboring coastal state can exercise sovereign rights and sovereign powers to a limited extentexercise, in particular the sole right to economic exploitation including fishing (cf. in detail Art. 55 to 75 UNCLOS). Although the Latin American states had already called for the expansion of the territorial sea to 200 nm in the 1940s, it was not until the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea that general international recognition of the EEZ could be achieved.

The sovereign rights include the exploration and exploitation, conservation and management of the living and non-living natural resources of the waters above the seabed, mainly through fishing , the seabed and its subsoil through marine mining in the context of sand, gravel and carbon extraction as well as other activities for economic exploration and exploitation of the zone such as electricity generation , in particular through offshore wind farms and ocean current power plants .

Within the scope of its sovereign powers , the coastal state may create artificial islands, facilities and structures, such as B. drilling rigs , and conduct marine scientific research . He is committed to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and thus to nature conservation .

According to Articles 58 and 87 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, other states enjoy limited freedom of the high seas within the EEZ of each coastal state (only shipping, overflights and cables / pipelines).

German exclusive economic zone

The Federal Republic of Germany has declared the entry into force of the Convention with effect from 1 January 1995 the establishment of a German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North and Baltic Seas. The relevant German legal provisions that are applicable within the exclusive economic zone include the Sea Tasks Act (from 1965), the Sea Facilities Act (from 2017, before that since 1997 the Sea Facilities Ordinance ), the Federal Mining Act , the Geology Data Act and the Spatial Planning Act .

The German EEZ has an area of ​​32,982 km², which is about 70% of the sea area of ​​the entire German North Sea area and about 29% of the sea area of ​​the entire German Baltic Sea area .

Driven by the approval process for planned offshore wind farms , a regional planning plan issued by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development for the North Sea came into force on September 26, 2009 , and for the much smaller Baltic Sea area on December 19, 2009. For the German exclusive economic zone Germany reported ten Natura 2000 areas to the EU Commission.

Nature reserves

Nature reserves (green) in the German exclusive economic zone

Six marine areas in the German EEZ are designated as nature reserves :

See also

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  1. ↑ United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (German translation) (PDF; 919 kB)
  2. ↑ Martin Lauer, Christian Simonis: Which law applies “offshore”? In: Ship & Harbor . Issue 9, 2017, pp. 42–44.
  3. ↑ Proclamation of the Federal Republic of Germany on the establishment of an exclusive economic zone for the Federal Republic of Germany in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea of ​​November 25, 1994 ( Federal Law Gazette II p. 3769, 3770 ).
  4. ↑ Geological Data Act
  5. ↑ BfN: overview, brief facts. In: bfn.de. Retrieved January 11, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Spatial planning in the EEZ. Ordinances and spatial plans for the North and Baltic Seas. (No longer available online.) Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, archived from the original on March 27, 2013 ; accessed on August 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Natura 2000 - areas. Information on "exclusive economic zone" in the 2nd paragraph. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, accessed on September 5, 2018 .
  8. ↑ BfN: National Marine Protected Areas. In: bfn.de. Retrieved January 16, 2018 .

Web links

Commons : Exclusive Economic Zones  - Collection of images, videos and audio files