Joint Approaches and Best Practices - an Integrated and Coherent EU Arctic Policy in Support of Articles 208 and 214 UNCLOS.

Abstract

Key principles of international environmental law have gradually been integrated into the European Treaties, above all, into the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) itself.1 In order to focus on the Arctic relevance of some EU legal acts, this first section provides a short overview of internationally accepted legal principles of marine environmental law and the applicable EU law, which is generally more progressive in substance as compared to a number of other legal orders. In a 2016 Joint Communication, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy reiterated that “the EU is well placed to shape international ocean governance on the basis of its experience in developing sustainable ocean management”.2 This introductory section shall clarify the kind of “experience in developing sustainable ocean management” the Joint Communication refers to. Generally, just like in any other regulatory field, the EU applies its own unique legal instruments, in particular, secondary legislation imposed on its Members in accordance with Article 288 TFEU. This legislation takes the form of legally binding Regulations and more flexible Directives to further the EU’s primary policy objectives. For example, in 2005, as part of the EU’s overall “Integrated Maritime Policy”, the Commission proposed the adoption of a Directive to implement a broad thematic strategy—the Marine Strategy Framework3— to address marine pollution through a long-term programme of diagnosis and action carried out by competent authorities in the Member States and under European regional seas conventions. The continuously evolving EU Arctic policy is a good example for the inclusion of a global environmental policy dimension in EU instruments as advocated since 2008 by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which represents the environmental pillar of the EU’s “Integrated Maritime Policy”.4 While the Directive does not address specifically the environmental impacts of maritime transport, Arctic matters or other uses of the sea, it has served as a catalyst for governance mechanisms, which, over time, generate new EU actions having direct implications for any marine-related sector. As such, it promotes and applies several internationallyaccepted environmental principles, such as: – the principle of sustainable development, – the principle of environmental integration, – the precautionary principle, – the polluter pays principle, and – the ecosystem approach.