2.4.2 Legal–Institutional Framework
In recent years, several phenomena in the marine environment scenario have been
subject to such rapid change that management instruments have not always been able
to respond in the most suitable fashion. This has been due above all to the fact that
these instruments are usually created by international organisations and their action
mechanisms require broad consensus among countries. This is difficult to achieve in
a region like the Mediterranean, where there are still sharp economic, demographic,
and political contrasts. However, if the action that comes from international organisations does not seem to be very effective, the unilateral action taken by some states
is even less so, especially that taken by the weakest in economic and technological
terms. Be that as it may, in the Mediterranean international/regional institutions and
legislation coexist alongside the various coastal states’ own legal frameworks, with
regional cooperation instruments seemingly sometimes predominating while at other
times national instruments prevail. When the latter occurs, the inequality between
countries’ capacities and the varying degree of interest that they show in Mediterranean affairs could lead to lack of unanimity over issues that affect them
collectively.
Mediterranean marine governance should be unfailingly multilateral and concerted, both because of the basin’s peculiar geographical constraints and the nature
and size of the problems shared by those along its coasts. However, it is also evident
that each of the dimensions of Mediterranean marine governance is framed in a
variety of regulations, legislation and institutions. Legal issues, maritime borders and
the navigation regime are regulated by UNCLOS—and binding only for the states
that have endorsed it. Meanwhile, environmental protection issues are, as is obvious,
regulated by the states themselves, UNCLOS and also by an intricate regional web
Table 2.4 Legal–institutional marine governance forms in the Mediterranean
International
initiatives
- UNCLOS
- Conservation agreements
- Fishing treaties
- Agreements on dumping of waste and pollutants
- UNEP-Regional Seas Programme
Regional
initiatives
- Mediterranean Action Plan: Barcelona Convention and protocols; Blue
Plan; MEDPOL Programme
- General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean
- EU initiatives
- Other initiatives: METAP (World Bank); NGOs (IUCN); sub-regional
initiatives (Declaration on the Conservation and Sustainable Development of
the Alboran Sea, Pelagos Sanctuary, RAMOGE Agreement etc.)
National
initiatives
- Transposition of international law
- General environmental legislation (natural spaces, pollution prevention,
coastal protection and coastal and marine environment protection etc.)
- Legislation on marine aspects (fishing, protected marine areas, navigation,
exploitation of non-living resources etc.)
Source: Prepared by the author
26
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero et al.
In recent years, several phenomena in the marine environment scenario have been
subject to such rapid change that management instruments have not always been able
to respond in the most suitable fashion. This has been due above all to the fact that
these instruments are usually created by international organisations and their action
mechanisms require broad consensus among countries. This is difficult to achieve in
a region like the Mediterranean, where there are still sharp economic, demographic,
and political contrasts. However, if the action that comes from international organisations does not seem to be very effective, the unilateral action taken by some states
is even less so, especially that taken by the weakest in economic and technological
terms. Be that as it may, in the Mediterranean international/regional institutions and
legislation coexist alongside the various coastal states’ own legal frameworks, with
regional cooperation instruments seemingly sometimes predominating while at other
times national instruments prevail. When the latter occurs, the inequality between
countries’ capacities and the varying degree of interest that they show in Mediterranean affairs could lead to lack of unanimity over issues that affect them
collectively.
Mediterranean marine governance should be unfailingly multilateral and concerted, both because of the basin’s peculiar geographical constraints and the nature
and size of the problems shared by those along its coasts. However, it is also evident
that each of the dimensions of Mediterranean marine governance is framed in a
variety of regulations, legislation and institutions. Legal issues, maritime borders and
the navigation regime are regulated by UNCLOS—and binding only for the states
that have endorsed it. Meanwhile, environmental protection issues are, as is obvious,
regulated by the states themselves, UNCLOS and also by an intricate regional web
Table 2.4 Legal–institutional marine governance forms in the Mediterranean
International
initiatives
- UNCLOS
- Conservation agreements
- Fishing treaties
- Agreements on dumping of waste and pollutants
- UNEP-Regional Seas Programme
Regional
initiatives
- Mediterranean Action Plan: Barcelona Convention and protocols; Blue
Plan; MEDPOL Programme
- General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean
- EU initiatives
- Other initiatives: METAP (World Bank); NGOs (IUCN); sub-regional
initiatives (Declaration on the Conservation and Sustainable Development of
the Alboran Sea, Pelagos Sanctuary, RAMOGE Agreement etc.)
National
initiatives
- Transposition of international law
- General environmental legislation (natural spaces, pollution prevention,
coastal protection and coastal and marine environment protection etc.)
- Legislation on marine aspects (fishing, protected marine areas, navigation,
exploitation of non-living resources etc.)
Source: Prepared by the author
26
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero et al.