Harlequin and the Mediterranean

chapter 15 Harlequin and the Mediterranean

Tullio Scovazzi*

I Introduction

The Mediterranean is a respectable sea.1 Its cultural heritage “is unique in that it embodies the common historical and cultural roots of many civilizations”.2 Bordered today by 23 States,3 the Mediterranean is one of the biggest among the seas which fall under the definition of ‘enclosed or semi-enclosed sea’ given by Art. 122 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea:4

For the purposes of this Convention, ‘enclosed or semi-enclosed sea’ means a gulf, basin or sea surrounded by two or more States and

* Professor of International Law, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. 1 The international regime of the Mediterranean Sea is one of the preferred fields of research of the scholar and friend to whom this collection of essays is dedicated: see Vukas (ed.), The Legal Regime of Enclosed or Semi-enclosed Seas: The Particular Case of the Mediterranean, Zagreb, 1988. 2 As recalled in the Declaration on the Submarine Cultural Heritage of the Mediterranean Sea, adopted on 10 March 2001 in Syracuse, Italy, by the participants in an academic conference. The Mediterranean countries were consequently invited to “study the possibility of adopting a regional convention that enhances cooperation in the investigation and protection of the Mediterranean submarine cultural heritage and sets forth the relevant rights and obliga- tions”. See Beurier, “Commentaire de la Déclaration de Syracuse sur le patrimoine culturel sous-marin de la Mer Méditerranée”, in Camarda & Scovazzi (eds.), The Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage – Legal Aspects, Milano, 2002, p. 279 (for the text of the Declaration see ibid., p. 448). 3 The Mediterranean coastal States (without considering the States bordering only the Black Sea) are Spain, the United Kingdom (as far as Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are concerned), France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco. For certain matters, the European Union should be added to the list. It is an international organization of which twenty-eight European States have so far become members, including eight Mediterranean States (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and Croatia). It has, inter alia, exclusive competence in the field of fisheries management and conservation and a competence shared with its member States in the field of environmental protection, including the marine environment. 4 Hereinafter: unclos.

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connected to another sea or the ocean by a narrow outlet or consisting entirely or primarily of the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of two or more coastal States.5

The Mediterranean countries differ as far as their internal political systems and levels of economic development are concerned. The Mediterranean region is an area of major strategic importance and, in certain cases, of political tension. Highly populated cities, ports of worldwide significance, extended industrial areas and renowned holiday resorts are located along the Mediterranean shores. Important routes of international navigation pass through Mediterranean waters, which connect the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans through the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.6 The protection of the Mediterranean environmental bal- ance, which is particularly fragile because of the very slow exchange of waters, is a serious concern. The parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona, 1976; amended in 1995) declare themselves to be “mindful of the special hydrographic and ecological characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea Area and its particular vulnerability to pollution” (preamble). Harlequin is a comic servant character of the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, well-known also in other countries. Endowed with great physical agility, Harlequin is distinguished by a motley costume made up of many patches in different colours. The connection between the Mediterranean Sea and Harlequin is due to two factors. First, today the Mediterranean States are still far from taking a uniform attitude as regards the extent and nature of their coastal zones.7 Looking at the map, a patchwork of differently coloured coastal zones mixed with holes of high seas is immediately visible. If all the coastal States were to establish an exclusive economic zone, the high seas would disappear, since there is no point in the Mediterranean that is further than 200 n.m. from the nearest land or island. This geographical situation would require the conclu- sion by the States concerned of several bilateral (or even multilateral) agreements for the delimitation of maritime boundaries. However – and this is the second relevant factor – only a limited number of such agreements have so far

5 On enclosed or semi-enclosed seas see Vukas, The Law of the Sea – Selected Writings, Leiden, 2004, p. 263. 6 Although it covers only 0.8% of the surface of oceans and seas, about 30% of world marine trade and 20% of the global volume of fuel transport passes through the Mediterranean Sea. 7 See infra, ii.