New agreement between Norway and the UK on economic zones

From the left: Deputy Director General Olav Myklebust, Adviser Nini P. Halle, Director General Rolf Einar Fife, all from the Ministry’s Legal Affairs Department, the British Ambassador to Norway, HE David Powell, and Counsellor Anneli Conroy.

On 30 April, Norway and the UK entered into an agreement on the boundary between the countries’ economic zones.

Rolf Einar Fife, Director General of the Legal Affairs Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented: “This agreement creates clarity and predictability both for the authorities and for private actors.”

Since the establishment of Norway’s economic zone and the British fishery zone in 1977, the dividing line for the continental shelf from 1965 has in practice been used as the boundary between these zones as well. However, this had not been formally established before the agreement now entered into.

The agreement also sets out the exact position of the boundary line. The Norwegian Mapping Authority and British experts have transformed the coordinates from the 1965 agreement to the World Geodetic System (WGS84), which is used in satellite navigation.

Source: Government.no