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framework for maritime spatial planning and integrat-
ed social management, seeking to encourage busi-
nesses to invest in the sea, by securing stable rules,
transparency and clearer licensing requirements.
Any success, though, requires international coop-
eration, especially in the Mediterranean. Growth
opportunities are huge, albeit often remain unex-
ploited, since the situation in the region makes it
difficult for coastal states to impose or regulate
generic activities. It is no coincidence that in June
2013, the European Commission (through the
competent commissioner, Maria Damanaki), pre-
sented a study on the rights and the obligations of
coastal states that are signatories to the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as
well as on the situation regarding the establish-
ment of maritime zones in the Mediterranean.
According to the study, the existence of an
Exclusive Economic Zone would enable more effi-
cient maritime spatial planning and improve the
conditions for securing further financial investment,
e.g. to explore for oil and natural gas on or below
the seabed.
The Commission’s message is that the European
Union’s member states would benefit from imme-
diately establishing Exclusive Economic Zones
(EEZ), after, of course, reaching an agreement
with their neighbours.
The study, titled “Costs and benefits arising from
the establishment of maritime zones in the
Mediterranean Sea” makes clear reference to the
member states’ right of establishing EEZs on the
basis of the Convention on the Law of the Sea,
while it is equally clearly stated that member
states should define their maritime boundaries in
cooperation with their neighbours.
The study claims that the “costs and benefits can
be put together to produce an overall synthesis of
costs and benefits if all rights were claimed under
an EEZ [...] However, one basic cost remains to
be derived – the cost of negotiating the bound-
aries of the EEZ with neighbours.”
The study also points out that such negotiations
are characterized by “unpredictability” and, since
“sovereignty is a major issue” the negotiations
may be over without an agreement being ever
reached. This is why the study concludes that the
issue of EEZs requires that “political will is there
amongst countries and their neighbours”.
Effectively, the study aims at the comprehensive res-
olution of the issue of maritime zones in the
Mediterranean on the basis of the Convention on the
Law of the Sea, by highlighting the practical benefits
of EEZs as compared to the open sea. These also
include fisheries, since the EU also seeks to amend
its fisheries policy through the EEZ issue. The
Commission’s intervention is an attempt to ensure
the orderly exploitation of the Mediterranean, clarify-
ing, though, that there is no European EEZ, but only
separate member-state EEZs.
Special mention is made to the fact the any EEZ
should be accompanied by the appropriate moni-
