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(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order replaces the two extant Orders made under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964, designating the areas of the continental shelf within which the rights of the United Kingdom with respect to the seabed and subsoil and their natural resources are exercisable. Under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, an exclusive economic zone (which may extend to 200 nautical miles from coastal baselines) is being declared around the United Kingdom on 31 March 2014, and it is therefore more appropriate that the areas designated under section 1(7) of the 1964 Act should be the same as those which form part of the exclusive economic zone, together with any areas of continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the United Kingdom’s baselines within which the United Kingdom may exercise such rights.
In relation to regulations made and licences issued under the legislation relating to petroleum, Article 1(3) of this Order preserves their effect in relation to areas designated as continental shelf under Orders made under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 prior to the enactment of the Territorial Sea Act.
Article 2(a) of this Order designates the area of the United Kingdom’s continental shelf resulting from the treaties with Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. The exception in Article 2(a) reflects the fact that in the agreement with Denmark relating to the Faroe Islands the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone boundaries differ. It has been agreed with all the States concerned that the coordinates defining the continental shelf boundaries should be expressed in the World Geodetic System 1984 datum (WGS 84).
The treaties in question are:
(a)Belgium: Agreement of 29 May 1991, Exchange of Letters of 21 March and 7 June 2005 and Exchange of Letters of 25 June and 12 August 2013 (Cm 2499, Cm 7204 and Cm 8723);
(b)Denmark: Agreement of 25 November 1971 and Exchange of Notes of 22 October 2009 (relating to the North Sea) (Cnmd 5193 and Cm 7893);
Agreement of 18 May 1999 and Protocol of 25 April 2012 (relating to the Faroe Islands) (Cm 4514 and Cm 8570));
(c)France: Agreements of 24 June 1982 and 23 July 1991 and Exchange of Letters of 20 April 2011 (Cm 8859, Cm 1979 and Cm 8146); note that the continental shelf boundary between the United Kingdom and France was in part fixed by the Decisions of a Court of Arbitration dated 30 June 1977 and 14 March 1978 (Cmnd 7438);
(d)Germany: Agreement of 25 November 1971 (Cmnd 5192);
(e)Ireland: Agreement of 7 November 1988, Protocol of 8 December 1992 and Agreement of 28 March 2013 (Cm 990, Cm 2302 and Cm 8666);
(f)Netherlands: Agreement of 6 October 1965, Protocol of 25 November 1971, Exchange of Notes of 28 January and 7 June 2006 and Exchange of Notes of 19 April and 3 July 2013 (Cmnd 3253, Cmnd 5193, Cm 6749 and Cm 8724);
(g)Norway: Agreement of 10 March 1965, Protocol of 22 December 1987 and Exchange of Notes of 30 April 2009 (Cmd 2757, Cmd 7853 and Cm 7731).
The area described in Article 2(b) comprises an area beyond 200 nautical miles from the United Kingdom’s baselines for which in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea the United Kingdom has made a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
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