enabled by Article 305(1) of the Convention, which provides that “This Convention
shall be open for signature by: [. . .] international organizations, in accordance with
Annex IX.”
Annex IX of the UNCLOS deals, indeed, with the concrete modalities of the
participation of “international organizations” in the Convention. It specifies in
Article 4(3), which mirrors the specific nature of the European Union, that “[s]uch
an international organization shall exercise the rights and perform the obligations
which its member States which are Parties would otherwise have under this Convention, on matters relating to which competence has been transferred to it by those
member States. The member States of that international organization shall not
exercise competence which they have transferred to it”. Those elements are aimed
at clarifying the repartition of competences between the EU and member States
toward third States Parties of the UNCLOS.
The EU has mixed competence for the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity
2 beyond national jurisdiction. There is, first, a sharing of competences
between member States and the Union in the fields of scientific research, protection
of the environment and fisheries. Second, the EU has an exclusive competence for
the conservation of marine biological resources, in the context of the common
fisheries policy. Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European
Union (TFEU) states indeed: “[s]hared competence between the Union and the
Member States applies in the following principal areas: (a) internal market;[. . .]
(d) agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological
resources; (e) environment; (g) transport; (i) energy; [. . .]”. In the exercise of shared
competences, States can adopt protective and reinforced measures where the
European Union did not take any.
3
Annex IX of the UNCLOS provides, moreover, that the international organization shall, at the time of the signature of the Convention, “make a declaration
specifying the matters governed by this Convention in respect of which competence
has been transferred to that organization by its member States which are signatories,
and the nature and extent of that competence”.
4 The Declaration of competence sets
EC). See for instance Churchill (2017), p. 32. About the role of the EU in the law of the sea, see
notably Churchill (2018), pp. 290–323.
2 The term ‘biodiversity’ can be defined according to Art. 2 of the Convention on biological
diversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,
marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this
includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.”
3 Thanks to its exclusive competence regarding the conservation of marine biological resources, the
EU is part of several regional fisheries organizations, as the North-East Fisheries Commission, or
the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. See Dross (2014).
4 See Art. 2 of Annex IX to the UNCLOS.
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P. Ricard
shall be open for signature by: [. . .] international organizations, in accordance with
Annex IX.”
Annex IX of the UNCLOS deals, indeed, with the concrete modalities of the
participation of “international organizations” in the Convention. It specifies in
Article 4(3), which mirrors the specific nature of the European Union, that “[s]uch
an international organization shall exercise the rights and perform the obligations
which its member States which are Parties would otherwise have under this Convention, on matters relating to which competence has been transferred to it by those
member States. The member States of that international organization shall not
exercise competence which they have transferred to it”. Those elements are aimed
at clarifying the repartition of competences between the EU and member States
toward third States Parties of the UNCLOS.
The EU has mixed competence for the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity
2 beyond national jurisdiction. There is, first, a sharing of competences
between member States and the Union in the fields of scientific research, protection
of the environment and fisheries. Second, the EU has an exclusive competence for
the conservation of marine biological resources, in the context of the common
fisheries policy. Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European
Union (TFEU) states indeed: “[s]hared competence between the Union and the
Member States applies in the following principal areas: (a) internal market;[. . .]
(d) agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological
resources; (e) environment; (g) transport; (i) energy; [. . .]”. In the exercise of shared
competences, States can adopt protective and reinforced measures where the
European Union did not take any.
3
Annex IX of the UNCLOS provides, moreover, that the international organization shall, at the time of the signature of the Convention, “make a declaration
specifying the matters governed by this Convention in respect of which competence
has been transferred to that organization by its member States which are signatories,
and the nature and extent of that competence”.
4 The Declaration of competence sets
EC). See for instance Churchill (2017), p. 32. About the role of the EU in the law of the sea, see
notably Churchill (2018), pp. 290–323.
2 The term ‘biodiversity’ can be defined according to Art. 2 of the Convention on biological
diversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,
marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this
includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.”
3 Thanks to its exclusive competence regarding the conservation of marine biological resources, the
EU is part of several regional fisheries organizations, as the North-East Fisheries Commission, or
the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. See Dross (2014).
4 See Art. 2 of Annex IX to the UNCLOS.
380
P. Ricard