The Italian Law on the Establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone has entered into force

The Italian Law on the Establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone beyond the outer limit of the Territorial Sea has entered into force on July 8th, 2021 (Law N. 91 of June 14th, 2021, https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2021/06/23/21G00103/sg, hereinafter: Law) by which the only prerequisite for the application of this maritime regime now remaining is issuing a decree as proscribed by the Law. From that moment on, alongwith other Mediterranean States which already apply the regime of the exclusive economic zone, Italy will enjoy the sovereign rights and jurisdiction in this maritime area as guaranteed by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In regard to the delimitation of the Italian exclusive economic zone, negotiations and relevant agreements have been made with Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Greece, Tunisia, Spain and to some extent with France. However, it is yet to wait and see how these agreements will be reached with Algeria, Malta and Lybia, especially when taken into account the 1985 judgement of the International Court of Justice on the dispute on the continental shelf between Lybia and Malta and the fact that Algeria has proclaimed its exclusive economic zone in 2018 which has partly overlapped with the maritime area in which Italiy enjoys sovereign rights.

Although the sovereign rights covered by the exclusive economic zone regarding fishing do not apply on the State Members of the European Union, they do, however, apply on the third States. Bearing this in mind, this Law has created prerequisites for the settlement of the illegal fishing disputes, especially tuna fishing, by foreign ships (primarily those from Tunisia and Lybia).