Finland Establishes an Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea

The Finnish Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone enters into force on 1 February 2005. The zone will give Finland better means to protect the environment outside Finnish territorial waters. The new Act is based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The exclusive economic zone encompasses essentially the same area that Finland has so far regulated by the Continental Shelf Act and the Act on the Fishing Zone. According to the UN Convention, the exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. For geographical reasons Finland has not been able to extend the exclusive economic zone up to the permitted maximum, and has agreed on the outer limits of the maritime zones with with Sweden, Russia and Estonia. The other coastal states of the Baltic Sea have already established their exclusive economic zones.

The establishment of the zone will give Finland wider rights of economic exploitation and exploration of the sea area adjacent to the Finnish territorial waters. It will also strenghten Finland's possibilities to protect the maritime environment in the zone. If, for example, an oil tanker flying a foreign flag unlawfully discharges oil into in the sea within the zone, Finland can demand punishment under Finnish criminal laws.

The Act includes the rules contained in the Continental Shelf Act and the Act on the Fishing Zone. According to the former, Finland has the exclusive right to the economic exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf and certain natural resources within its area. The latter gives Finland the exclusive right to regulate fishing in the zone and to take measures relating to the conservation and management of fishery resources, unless otherwise provided in EC regulations or international conventions.

In the excusive economic zone, all states enjoy the freedom of navigation and overflight and of the laying of submarine cables and pipelines.

For more information, please contact legislative councellor Tapio Puurunen, unit for public international law, tel. 1605 5588 or tapio.puurunen@formin.fi

Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helcom)

Oceans and Law of the Sea (UN)