European Law

Le Monde diplomatique

https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2016/06/CORMORAND/55727

“Adoptée à Montego Bay (Jamaïque) en 1982, la convention des Nations unies sur le droit de la mer (CNUDM) a, comme son nom l’indique, défini le droit international pour la mer. Elle a introduit le concept de zone économique exclusive (ZEE) ; reconnu le droit des États à étendre leur plateau continental bien au-delà de cette limite ; créé des institutions importantes, telles que l’Autorité internationale des fonds marins (AIFM), pour gérer les ressources de la zone déclarée patrimoine commun de l’humanité (appelée « la Zone »), ainsi que la Commission des limites du plateau continental (CLPC). À ce jour, 166 États ont ratifié cette convention. Parmi les autres, on trouve les pays privés de littoral, mais aussi les États-Unis (le gouvernement a signé, mais le Sénat n’a pas ratifié), Israël, le Venezuela et la Turquie.

Interview with George Voskopoulos, European Student Think Tank

Interview conducted by: Ema Odra Raščan

George Voskopoulos, PhD is an Associate Professor of European Studies and the former Head of the Department of International and European Studies at the University of Macedonia. He was a Thematic Research Coordinator at the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence from 2015 to 2018. Dr. Voskopoulous began his academic career by conducting his Ph.D. in comparative foreign policy analysis and focused on the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union at Exeter University. He was a visiting fellow at the University of Russe in Bulgaria from 2001 until 2003, before continuing to work as a research associate at the University of Sheffield and at the Luxembourg Institute for International and European Studies. His research has been published in journals around the word and he is currently an editorial board member of a number of international journals. He is also the editor of “European Union Security and Defence: Policies, Operations and Transatlantic Challenges” (Spinger, 2020) and “Transatlantic Relations and European Integration: Realities and Dilemmas” (ICFAI Press, Hyderabad, 2006).

Ema Odra Raščan: As the European Commission wishes to establish a European Digital Decade, many EU Member States are concluding bilateral partnerships when it comes to fifth-generation wireless broadband networks. Greece is no exception. In September 2020 after a visit from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, U.S. commitment and support to Greece were reaffirmed. Does Greece see the future of its foreign policy within theEU or driven by bilateral relationships with big players in the international community?

Prof. Voskopoulos, Ph.D.:The original primary aim of Greece to join the (then) EEC was related to security issues. This overlaid the fact that the country was not competitive enough to join a club of industrially advanced states. As a result, Greece supported all endeavors of “federal” orientation (i.e. a European Army, CFSP, ESDP). For organizational and constitutional reasons (a Treaty-based Union) these aims were materialized in a way that did not resolve complex Greek security dilemmas and Greece is the only EU country still facing a military threat, not perceived but actual. Under this spectrum, Greek foreign policy has invested on trilateral or multilateral cooperation (i.e. Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, UAE, U.S.) to cover this need and the organizational and operational realities of CFSP, ESDP.