Chapter 21
The EU and the UN Legally-Binding
Instrument on the Areas Beyond National
Jurisdiction
Luigimaria Riccardi
Abstract The chapter offers an in-depth reading of the role that the European Union
(EU) may play during the current negotiations in the United Nations for the adoption
of a new international legally binding agreement on biodiversity beyond national
jurisdiction. Despite the complexity of the object and the interests of the negotiations
in question, the study stresses the added value of the EU to speak with a single voice
on behalf of its Member States, thank on the new status that the EU has in the United
Nations General Assembly since 2011. In fact, such a status may assist a major
sharing of position of the EU among other States, by covering also the legal gaps of
the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), concerning the
protection of the marine biological diversity and, mainly, the definition and framework of Marine Genetic Resources. Besides, the chapter stresses the idea that the EU
may interconnect the new international agreement with other international instruments and International Organizations, in which the EU is an active player,
guarantying in this way a concrete coordination and implementation of UNCLOS.
Finally, the study will move to consider a pragmatic position expressed by the EU
during the negotiations, together with its Member States, trying to understand
whether and to what extent it can represent a possible third way to walk on.
1 Introduction
The marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) cover nearly half of the
world’s surface. The scientific development tells us with still greater force that
these large oceans are more affected by the human influence than one could
previously understand. Pollution, overfishing, expanded shipping, marine mining,
energy development, intensified aquaculture, ocean warming and acidification all
pose serious threats to marine ecosystems—including in the ABNJ—and require
more effective marine management.
L. Riccardi (*)
University of Pisa, Department of Law, Pisa, Italy
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_21
401
The EU and the UN Legally-Binding
Instrument on the Areas Beyond National
Jurisdiction
Luigimaria Riccardi
Abstract The chapter offers an in-depth reading of the role that the European Union
(EU) may play during the current negotiations in the United Nations for the adoption
of a new international legally binding agreement on biodiversity beyond national
jurisdiction. Despite the complexity of the object and the interests of the negotiations
in question, the study stresses the added value of the EU to speak with a single voice
on behalf of its Member States, thank on the new status that the EU has in the United
Nations General Assembly since 2011. In fact, such a status may assist a major
sharing of position of the EU among other States, by covering also the legal gaps of
the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), concerning the
protection of the marine biological diversity and, mainly, the definition and framework of Marine Genetic Resources. Besides, the chapter stresses the idea that the EU
may interconnect the new international agreement with other international instruments and International Organizations, in which the EU is an active player,
guarantying in this way a concrete coordination and implementation of UNCLOS.
Finally, the study will move to consider a pragmatic position expressed by the EU
during the negotiations, together with its Member States, trying to understand
whether and to what extent it can represent a possible third way to walk on.
1 Introduction
The marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) cover nearly half of the
world’s surface. The scientific development tells us with still greater force that
these large oceans are more affected by the human influence than one could
previously understand. Pollution, overfishing, expanded shipping, marine mining,
energy development, intensified aquaculture, ocean warming and acidification all
pose serious threats to marine ecosystems—including in the ABNJ—and require
more effective marine management.
L. Riccardi (*)
University of Pisa, Department of Law, Pisa, Italy
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. C. Ribeiro et al. (eds.), Global Challenges and the Law of the Sea,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42671-2_21
401