ECJ ruling may complicate EU proposals on marine protection

A judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), issued in November 2018, may have implications for proposals for the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctica which were presented to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (the CCAMLR) by the EU. Previously, the EU has acted alone in making such proposals. However, the ECJ judgment says decisions on such matters must now also be adopted by individual EU Member States because some of these are also signatories to the Antarctic Treaty with rights and obligations under that Treaty.

To quote:

Decisions adopted in the context of the international treaties relating to the preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica must be adopted jointly by the EU and the Member States who are parties to those treaties.

Read more details on the judgment here: cp180179en