On Thursday 7 March, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council called for swift ratification of the global Treaty of the High Seas.
“In the spring of 2023, after more than 17 years of negotiations, the BBNJ agreement was concluded. (...) This agreement represents a huge step forward for the protection of the ocean because it ensures that we will be able to establish marine protected areas in international waters”, stressed Sophie Mirgaux, Belgian Special Envoy for the Ocean on behalf of the Federal Public Service ‘Health’.
So far, 90 countries have signed the agreement, which must be ratified by at least 60 of them before it can enter into force. “We cannot rest on our laurels now. We must take urgent action to turn the words of this agreement into deeds”, added Ms Mirgaux.
The European Commission launched the procedure to ratify the agreement on 12 October 2023. On that occasion, the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, had already said that “it is urgent that the EU ratifies the treaty as soon as possible”. “With this proposal, we are taking the first step. I invite the international community to do the same”, he added (see EUROPE 13270/35).
The Member States have undertaken to ratify the text at national level before the next United Nations Conference on the Ocean, which will take place in June 2025. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)