competences not contemplated by the continental shelf regime;
13 in the continental
shelf extending beyond 200 nm, the rights and duties of the coastal states are
practically the same as within that distance, with two relevant exceptions, namely
the revenue-sharing mechanism and the marine scientific research clause, which will
be analyzed in detail in the following item.
Due to the overlap between the EEZ and the continental shelf regime until
200 nm, some speculation existed whether the continental shelf regime held autonomy, or whether it had been absorbed by EEZ rules. One could say, however, that
the continental shelf regime is autonomous, not dependent on, but complementary to
the EEZ regime. The Convention granted each zone not only its own rights and
duties, but has attributed the continental shelf a “special character”, which gives
provisions on the continental shelf preeminence over those of the EEZ, a reading that
flows from Art. 77, paragraph 3 UNCLOS.
14
The harmony element animating the differing regimes within UNCLOS lives in
the provisions bridging both, adopted in order to prevent confusion between them. It
is the case of Art. 56, paragraph 3, which orders EEZ provisions to be exercised in
accordance with continental shelf rights. Or articles 60 and 80, on artificial islands;
Art. 58, paragraph 1, on the rights and duties of other states in the EEZ; Art.
77, paragraph 4, on the rights of coastal states over the natural resources of the
continental shelf, amongst others.
Summing up, the EEZ is ought to be seen as a sui generis zone, neither residual
continental shelf, nor residual high seas. This view is crucial for the limitation of
coastal state’s jurisdiction on the EEZ, but also certain freedoms of the high seas.
15
The EEZ is also not to be considered an extension of the legal regime of the territorial
sea, but a strip of ocean where two different regimes apply simultaneously, as
UNCLOS provisions stipulate that the rights with respect to the seabed and the
subsoil within the EEZ are to be exercised in accordance with the provisions on the
continental shelf.
16 That this work speaks of the need for harmonization between
both regimes until the 200-nm limit is evidence of the differences between both
spaces. Now, to the intersections in the space beyond 200 nm between the continental shelf and another regime, namely the high seas.
13 Art. 56 (1) (a), UNCLOS.
14 For a similar understanding, see Leanza and Caracciolo (2014), p. 209.
15 Orrego Vicuña (1984), p. 3.
16 Leanza and Caracciolo (2014), p. 208.
5.1 The Continental Shelf and the EEZ: Parallelism and Integration
113
13 in the continental
shelf extending beyond 200 nm, the rights and duties of the coastal states are
practically the same as within that distance, with two relevant exceptions, namely
the revenue-sharing mechanism and the marine scientific research clause, which will
be analyzed in detail in the following item.
Due to the overlap between the EEZ and the continental shelf regime until
200 nm, some speculation existed whether the continental shelf regime held autonomy, or whether it had been absorbed by EEZ rules. One could say, however, that
the continental shelf regime is autonomous, not dependent on, but complementary to
the EEZ regime. The Convention granted each zone not only its own rights and
duties, but has attributed the continental shelf a “special character”, which gives
provisions on the continental shelf preeminence over those of the EEZ, a reading that
flows from Art. 77, paragraph 3 UNCLOS.
14
The harmony element animating the differing regimes within UNCLOS lives in
the provisions bridging both, adopted in order to prevent confusion between them. It
is the case of Art. 56, paragraph 3, which orders EEZ provisions to be exercised in
accordance with continental shelf rights. Or articles 60 and 80, on artificial islands;
Art. 58, paragraph 1, on the rights and duties of other states in the EEZ; Art.
77, paragraph 4, on the rights of coastal states over the natural resources of the
continental shelf, amongst others.
Summing up, the EEZ is ought to be seen as a sui generis zone, neither residual
continental shelf, nor residual high seas. This view is crucial for the limitation of
coastal state’s jurisdiction on the EEZ, but also certain freedoms of the high seas.
15
The EEZ is also not to be considered an extension of the legal regime of the territorial
sea, but a strip of ocean where two different regimes apply simultaneously, as
UNCLOS provisions stipulate that the rights with respect to the seabed and the
subsoil within the EEZ are to be exercised in accordance with the provisions on the
continental shelf.
16 That this work speaks of the need for harmonization between
both regimes until the 200-nm limit is evidence of the differences between both
spaces. Now, to the intersections in the space beyond 200 nm between the continental shelf and another regime, namely the high seas.
13 Art. 56 (1) (a), UNCLOS.
14 For a similar understanding, see Leanza and Caracciolo (2014), p. 209.
15 Orrego Vicuña (1984), p. 3.
16 Leanza and Caracciolo (2014), p. 208.
5.1 The Continental Shelf and the EEZ: Parallelism and Integration
113