A New Chapter of Ocean Governance and the European Union: Codification Efforts and Prospects of a Moratorium at the International Seabed Authority

What is it about?

The role of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is at a turning point, due to the urgency to approve the Regulations on exploitation, provoked by the triggering of the ‘two-year rule’. The paper aims at addressing this issue from the perspective of the European Union (EU), which has repeatedly called for a moratorium on exploitation activities. Thus, after providing a summary of the applicable legal regime at ISA, the analysis will focus on the environmental policies of the EU (including the so-called 'Green Deal') and the principles on which they are founded. Relevant to the study is also the position of the EU in the negotiation of the recently adopted BBNJ agreement, because of the similar environmental stances involved in the two domains. After having provided an overview of the position of EU’s institutions on deep seabed mining activities, the main points of the position of the EU will be critically outlined.

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