The EU and the Law of the Sea

The interaction between the Law of the Sea and EU law is an area of strategic importance, which deserves increasing attention.

The role of the EU with regard to the rights and duties implied in the use of world’s oceans is worth an ad hoc scrutiny not only in the light of the enhanced presence of the EU in the international arena but also because of a strategic interest that the EU has developed in recent years. Issues such as marine spatial planning, piracy, the preservation of the marine environment, fisheries agreements with third States and the navigational use of the Arctic – just to give a few examples – have been for a long time at the top of the agenda of the EU and, occasionally, a reason of divergence between the EU and its Member States.

Both the EU and its Member States are parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea pursuant to the principle of attributed powers, according to which each contracting party assumes the rights and obligations deriving therefrom to the extent allowed by their respective competences. Recent developments have, however, demonstrated that uncertainties if not outright clashes may indeed arise. Several contentious cases have been brought to attention of the Court of Justice of the EU either by way of infringement proceedings or because of alleged inconsistencies between EU law and international maritime treaties to which the Member States themselves are contracting parties.

All of the above ... and more is at the heart of the Summer School on European Union and the Law of the Sea (EULoS), which will be offered again for the eighth year in 2022 after seven successful editions.