歐盟對於國際海洋法秩序之影響及其實踐
163
The Influence and Implementation of
the European Union on the International Law
of the Sea
Chen-Ju Chen
College of Law, National Chengchi University
No. 64, Sec. 2, ZhiNan Rd., Taipei 11605, Taiwan
E-mail:
Abstract
From a geographic, economic and social sense, the European
Union
(
EU
)
is deeply impacted by seas and oceans. At the third
United Nations
(
UN
)
Conference on the Law of the Sea, the concerns
and positions presented by EU Member States were altogether het-
erogeneous. Such heterogeneity was due to their different maritime
interests. Given the importance of the European Community
(
EC
)
, it
was granted observer status by the UN at the aforementioned con-
ference, as well as signing and formally confirming the 1982 UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea
(
LOS Convention
)
in 1984 and
1998, respectively. Through its participation in maritime-related UN
special agencies and institutions founded under the framework of the
LOS Convention, the EU has exerted greater influence on the pro-
gressive development of the international Law of the Sea. Within the
EU legal regime, the LOS Convention serves as the legal basis for
developing EU maritime and fisheries policies and regulations. This
gives the EU a significant role in the development of regional mari-
time policy. While there are ambiguities regarding the competence
between the EU and its Members States, the EU has made efforts in
various maritime fields, such as Port State Control, fisheries man-
agement, participation of regional fisheries management organiza-
tions, marine environmental protection, maritime safety and security
along with dispute settlement. Above all, given that the EU dispute
settlement mechanism has binding force, it can improve its Member