98/392/EC: Council Decision of 23 March 1998 concerning the conclusion by the European Community of the United Nations Convention of 10 December 1982 on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement of 28 July 1994 relating to the implementation of Part XI thereof
Date: 1998-03-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU Member State, European Communities, UN convention, international agreement, law of the sea

23.6.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

L  179/1

II

(Acts  whose  publication  is  not  obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL  DECISION

of  23  March  1998

concerning  the  conclusion  by  the  European  Community  of  the  United  Nations  Convention  of
10  December  1982  on  the  Law  of  the  Sea  and  the  Agreement  of  28  July  1994  relating  to  the
implementation  of  Part  XI  thereof

(98/392/EC)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

for  in  Article  3  of  Annex  IX  to  the  Convention  and
referred  to  in  Article  4(4)  of  the  Agreement  have  been
fulfilled;

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Articles  43,  113  and
130s(1),  in  conjunction  with  the  first  sentence  of  Article
228(2)  and  the  second  subparagraph  of  Article  228(3)
thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission (1),

Having 
Parliament (2),

regard 

to 

the  assent  of 

the  European

Whereas  the  European  Community  is  a  signatory  to  the
United  Nations  Convention  on  the  Law  of  the  Sea
(hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  Convention’)  and  the
Agreement  relating  to  the  implementation  of  Part  XI
thereof  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  Agreement’);

Whereas the Convention and the Agreement have entered
into  force  and  a  majority  of  the  Community’s  Member
States  are  parties  to  them;  whereas  the  ratification
process  is  under  way  in  the  other  Member  States;

Whereas  the  conditions  permitting  the  Community  to
deposit  the  instrument  of  formal  confirmation  provided

(1)  OJ  C  155,  23.5.1997,  p.  1.
(2)  OJ  C  325,  27.10.1997,  p.  14.

the  Community  has  been  applying 

Whereas 
the
Agreement  and  Part  XI  of  the  Convention  provisionally
since  16  November  1994  and  is  currently  a  provisional
member  of  the  International  Seabed  Authority;

Whereas  the  Convention  and  the  Agreement  should  be
approved to enable the Community to become a party to
them  within  the  limits  of  its  competence;

Whereas  the  Community  must,  when  depositing  the
instrument  of  formal  confirmation,  also  deposit  a
declaration  specifying  the  matters  governed  by  the
Convention  and  the  Agreement  in  respect  of  which
competence  has  been  transferred  to  it  by  its  Member
States  and  a  declaration  under  Article  310  of  the
Convention;

Whereas  the  Community  at  this  stage  declines  to  choose
a  specific  dispute-settlement  procedure  under  Article  287
of  the  Convention;  whereas  this  decision  will,  however,
be  reviewed  within  a  specified  period;

L  179/2

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Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

23.6.98

Whereas  the  Community  and  its  Member  States  are
involved 
in  the  work  of  the  International  Seabed
Authority  and  must  therefore  coordinate  the  positions
they  will  take  in  that  organisation,

Article  2

The  Community  and  its  Member  States  shall  coordinate
the  positions  they  adopt  in  bodies  of  the  International
Seabed  Authority  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid
down  in  Annex  III.

HAS  DECIDED  AS  FOLLOWS:

Article  1

1. The  United  Nations  Convention  on  the  Law  of  the
Sea  and  the  Agreement  relating  to  the  implementation  of
Part  XI  thereof  are  hereby  approved  on  behalf  of  the
European  Community.

2. The  texts  of  the  Convention  and  the  Agreement
appear  in  Annex  I.

3. The Community’s instrument of formal confirmation,
which  appears  in  Annex  II,  shall  be  deposited  with  the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. It shall comprise
a  declaration  under  Article  310  of  the  Convention  and  a
declaration  of  competence.

Article  3

The  President  of  the  Council  is  hereby  authorised  to
designate 
the
instrument  of  formal  confirmation  in  order  to  bind  the
Community.

the  person  empowered 

to  deposit 

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of
the  European  Communities.

Done  at  Brussels,  23  March  1998.

For  the  Council

The  President

M.  MEACHER