1. The Minister for Foreign Affairs
of the Kingdom of Denmark together with the Prime Minister of the
Government of the Faroes, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Iceland and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of
Norway wish to effect the delimitations of the continental shelf
areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines between the
Faroe Islands, Iceland, Mainland Norway and Jan Mayen, subject to
rights and obligations under the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea, hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”. This
will be done taking into account, inter alia, the functions of the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf established in
accordance with Annex II to the Convention, hereinafter referred to
as “the Commission”.
2. They are in agreement that the
bilateral delimitations of the continental shelf will be based on
straight geodetic lines connecting the following points, defined in
the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84):
Iceland/Norway
(A) | 67° 36′ 40.54′′ N | 6° 38′ 18.95′′ W |
(B) | 67° 43′ 06.51′′ N | 2° 30′ 45.12′′ W |
(C) | 66° 49′ 15.75′′ N | 1° 41′ 43.56′′ W |
Faroe Islands/Iceland
(C) | 66° 49′ 15.75′′ N | 1° 41′ 43.56′′ W |
(F) | 65° 41′ 22.63′′ N | 5° 34′ 42.22′′ W |
Faroe Islands /Norway
(C) | 66° 49′ 15.75′′ N | 1° 41′ 43.56′′ W |
(D) | 65° 54′ 43.74′′ N | 0° 29′ 13.23′′ W |
(E) | 64° 25′ 58.14′′ N | 0° 29′ 19.30′′ W |
By way of illustration, these lines
and the points listed above have been drawn on the chart appended
to these
Agreed Minutes (Appendix I).
3. The lines established in
paragraph 2 do not restrict the use of relevant information by the
States when submitting documentation concerning the outer limits of
the continental shelf to the Commission.
4. These Agreed Minutes are based
on the shared view that the whole area concerned consists of
continuous continental shelf. If, after consideration of national
data or other material by the Commission, it is ascertained that
any part thereof belongs to “the Area” as defined in Article 1 of
the Convention, i.e. that this part does not consist of continental
shelf appertaining to any of the coastal States, the coastal
State(s) concerned will establish the outer limits of the
continental shelf in accordance with Article 76 (8) of the
Convention, without this otherwise affecting the lines established
in paragraph 2.
5. Norway intends to submit its
documentation concerning the outer limits of its continental shelf
in the area to the Commission in 2006. Denmark/the Faroe Islands
and Iceland intend to submit their respective documentation
concerning the outer limits of their continental shelf in the area
to the Commission as soon as possible.
6. Each State will, when submitting
its documentation concerning the outer limits of its continental
shelf in the area, request that the Commission consider it and make
its recommendations on this basis, without prejudice to the
submission of documentation by the other States at a later stage or
to delimitation of the continental shelf between the three States.
The State concerned will in this connection declare that such a
request is agreed between the three States.
7. When one State submits
documentation to the Commission, the other States will notify the
Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with the
Commission’s rules of procedure that they do not object to the
Commission considering the documentation and making recommendations
on this basis, without prejudice to the submission of documentation
by these States at a later stage or to the question of bilateral
delimitations of the continental shelf between the three
States.
8. If, after consideration by the
Commission, one or more of the States has not documented that the
area of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles corresponds
in size, as a minimum, to the area that falls to the same State
according to paragraph 2, the lines established in paragraph 2 will
be adjusted. This adjustment will ensure a corresponding reduction
of the area that falls to the State concerned and the distribution
of the excess area to the remaining State or States that document
to the Commission areas of continental shelf more extensive than
the areas that follow from paragraph 2.
·
- If Denmark/the Faroe Islands fails to document an area of
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles of at least 27 000
km
2>, the excess area will be shared between Iceland
(40 per cent) and Norway (60 per cent).
- ·
- If Iceland fails to document an area of continental shelf
beyond 200 nautical miles of at least 29 000 km
2>, the excess area will be shared between
Denmark/the Faroe Islands (40 per cent) and Norway (60 per
cent).
- ·
- If Norway fails to document an area of continental shelf beyond
200 nautical miles of at least 55 528 km
2>, the excess area will be shared between
Denmark/the Faroe Islands (50 per cent) and Iceland (50 per
cent).
If only one of the States is able
to document a sufficient area of the continental shelf, the excess
area will fall to that State.
No State shall be allocated an area
of continental shelf larger than the area it is able to document to
the Commission.
Any adjustment of the lines
established in paragraph 2 will be made in such a way that it
causes the smallest possible departure from their general direction
and the number of turning points, primarily by moving point
(C).
9. As soon as possible, and no
later than three months after the States have concluded the
procedure set out in Article 76 (8) of the Convention, the States
will meet with a view to simultaneously concluding three parallel
bilateral agreements on the final determination of the boundary
lines in accordance with these
Agreed Minutes and their appendices, including the Model
Agreement contained in Appendix II. If such a meeting has not been
held by the end of 2011, the States will initiate consultations on
the further follow-up.
10. The Ministers have agreed that
the final delimitations will be effected by the simultaneous entry
into force of the three bilateral agreements, following
notification that internal requirements have been fulfilled to this
end.
11. These Agreed Minutes constitute
a joint statement of the Ministers’ agreement on the procedure for
establishing the delimitations of the continental shelf between the
States in the area, subject to fulfilment of their internal
requirements.
These
Agreed Minutes constitute a historic step that reflects
the extremely close and good neighbourly relations between
Denmark/the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway, their common
commitment to promoting the international law of the sea and the
importance they attach to the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea as the legal framework for the peaceful uses of the
oceans and seas.
Signed in triplicate at New York on
20 September 2006 in the English language.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of
the Kingdom of Denmark
The Prime Minister of the
Government of the Faroes
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Iceland
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Kingdom of Norway
