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Email this article Protecting the Rule of Law in the Ocean: The EU’s Role in Transitioning from Policy to Legal Obligation
Abstract
The protection of the oceans has emerged as a strategic priority at the turn of the 21st century. The article analyses the role of the European Union in the sustainable management of the oceans, structured around four axes: the legal and strategic framework governing European environmental action; the EU’s engagement in global ocean governance and its articulation with international commitments; the regulation of the blue economy and marine sustainability instruments; and the influence of recent international jurisprudence on the densification of climate and marine obligations applicable to the Union and its Member States. The analysis demonstrates that the normative architecture of the EU – from the European Green Deal to the Common Fisheries Policy, and from the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to the BBNJ Agreement – is formally robust, but its effectiveness remains contingent on coherent implementation and binding enforcement. The recent advisory opinions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (2024) and the International Court of Justice (2025), together with the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber judgment in KlimaSeniorinnen (2024), have significantly densified climate and marine obligations, transforming programmatic aspirations into justiciable legal duties. The article concludes that the sustainable management of the oceans is no longer a policy preference but a multilevel legal obligation, operationalised through norms, institutions and accountability mechanisms that project the rule of law onto the ocean.
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LITERATURE
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DOCUMENTS
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LEGAL ACTS
Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), adopted 19 June 2023.
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 005), as amended by Protocols Nos. 11 (ETS No. 155), 14 (CETS No. 194), and 15 (CETS No. 213), and supplemented by Protocols Nos. 1 (ETS No. 009), 4 (ETS No. 046), 6 (ETS No. 114), 7 (ETS No. 117), 12 (ETS No. 177), 13 (ETS No. 187), and 16 (CETS No. 214).
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Council Decision 98/392/EC of 23 March 1998 on the conclusion by the European Community of UNCLOS and the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI (OJ L 179/1, 23.6.1998).
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206/7, 22.7.1992).
Directive 2008/56/EC f the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) (OJ L 164/19, 25.6.2008).
Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (Birds Directive) (OJ L 20/7, 26.1.2009).
Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (OJ L 257/135, 28.8.2014).
Paris Agreement, adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at Paris on 12 December 2015, entered into force on 4 November 2016, T.I.A.S. No. 16-1104.
Regulation (EU) No. 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No. 1954/2003 and (EC) No. 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No. 2371/2002 and (EC) No. 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354/22, 28.12.2013).
Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on the establishment of a Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the common fisheries policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 199/2008 (OJ L 157/1, 20.6.2017).
Regulation (EU) 2021/947 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 June 2021 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, amending and repealing Decision No. 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EU) 2017/1601 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No. 480/2009 (OJ L 209/1, 14.6.2021).
Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No. 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (European Climate Law) (OJ L 243/1, 9.7.2021).
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CASE LAW
Decision of the ECtHR of 9 April 2024, Carême v France, no. 7189/21, inadmissible.
Decision of the ECtHR of 7 May 2025, De Conto v Italy and 32 Others, no. 14620/21, inadmissible.
Decision of the ECtHR of 7 May 2025, Uricchio v Italy and 31 Others, no. 14615/21, inadmissible.
Decision of the ECtHR of 28 August 2025, Engels and Others v Germany, no. 46906/22, inadmissible.
ICJ, Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (Request for Advisory Opinion), Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2025, 23 July 2025, Case No. 187.
ITLOS, Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, Advisory Opinion, Case No. 31, 21 May 2024.
Judgment of the CJEU of 11 September 2002, T-13/99, Pfizer Animal Health SA v Council, ECLI:EU:T:2002:209.
Judgment of the CJEU of 26 November 2002, T-44/00, Artegodan GmbH and Others v Commission, ECLI:EU:T:2002:283.
Judgment of the CJEU of 30 May 2006, C-459/03, Commission v Ireland, ECLI:EU:C:2006:345.
Judgment of the CJEU of 3 June 2008, C-308/06, Intertanko, ECLI:EU:C:2008:312.
Judgment of the CJEU of 30 April 2019, C-611/17, Italy v Council, ECLI:EU:C:2019:332.
Judgment of the ECtHR (Grand Chamber) of 9 April 2024, Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v Switzerland, no. 53600/20.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/sil.2026.35.2.11-28
Date of publication: 2026-08-07 12:31:15
Date of submission: 2026-05-08 15:32:44
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