ABSTRACT
Any form of marine spatial planning implies an exercise of state power and thus requires a legal framework. Here, we explore the opportunities within, and limitations of, existing legal provisions for marine spatial planning and discuss the importance of legally binding marine spatial planning tools. We examine the law of the sea, as codified in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Whereas marine spatial planning is a comparatively young form of ocean governance, the law of the sea dates back to the earliest times of navigation. The law of the sea does not regulate marine spatial planning, but it sets out some limits to planning activities. The attribution of specific powers under the law of the sea is often seen as an impediment to an integrated transboundary planning. On the other hand, it provides for a set of rules, and thus, a certain international consensus, from which planning can start. We also consider the European Union’s Marine Spatial Planning Directive. Unlike the law of the sea, the European Union Marine Spatial Planning Directive specifically encourages member states to do marine planning. However, the Directive is nevertheless vague in its provisions, leaving considerable leeway to states for the implementation of its principles. The Directive’s interaction and overlap with other binding and non-binding documents such as policies and roadmaps is not always clearly defined. For a marine planner, this chapter sets out the basic rules of the international law of the sea and how the European Union further developed these rules in its legislation. It provides a legal foundation for national marine plans, but is certainly not a ready-made guideline. The international and European rules are in dire need of adaptation, if not amendment.
