EU rules would govern member states’ marine resources

mbl.is published this submitted article by Ragnar Árnason on Iceland’s economic zone and European Union membership.

Most Icelanders know that the country has spent centuries seeking to claim as much sea territory around the island as possible, in a fierce struggle with European countries, including current EU member states. The earlier history of the territorial waters struggle, dating back to the 15th century, is covered in Professor Björn Þorsteinsson’s work Ten Cod Wars. The more recent history is covered in former President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson’s book The Three Cod Wars: The History of Iceland’s Territorial Waters Dispute, 1948-1976.

When Iceland became a republic in 1944, the nation took control of the territorial waters issue from Denmark. Since then, major advances have been made. The territorial waters limit was extended to four nautical miles in 1952, 12 miles in 1958 and 50 miles in 1972, each time against strong opposition from Britain and other European countries, which imposed both trade sanctions and military intervention.

Iceland secured a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone in 1976. This subsequently became international law when the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was confirmed in 1982.

However, the struggle for control over the sea around Iceland is not over. Large sea areas remain outside the 200-mile limit, particularly southwest of Iceland along the Reykjanes Ridge, which is disputed by countries around the world.

Recently, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved part of Iceland’s claims to economic control over the continental shelf far beyond the general 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

On that occasion, Iceland’s current foreign minister said: “The result is very good for Iceland and should be welcomed. Iceland’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf on the Reykjanes Ridge are now secured for the future, and the result ensures that decisions on whether to utilise or protect the area’s resources will be under Iceland’s control and no one else’s.” The statement was issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on 17 March 2025.

The author writes that most Icelanders would presumably agree with the foreign minister’s words.

The extent of Iceland’s marine resources

Iceland’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone is estimated to cover about 760,000 square kilometres. The additional continental shelf that the UN commission has determined falls under Iceland’s economic zone covers at least 250,000 square kilometres.

Together, this sea area therefore covers at least 1 million square kilometres. Iceland itself, however, covers only about 104 square kilometres, according to the article.

This means that the sea area over which Iceland has secure economic control is seven times the country’s land area and approaches ten times that area if the control granted by the UN commission remains in place. The article says this is described in more detail in an accompanying image.

Knowledge of the natural resources found within Iceland’s extensive exclusive economic zone remains very limited. However, valuable fish stocks are already known to exist in these waters that Icelanders have made little or no use of and have no fishing experience with. These include bluefin tuna and orange roughy.

There are undoubtedly also other valuable species of fish and other organisms in the area. The value of both land and sea areas is widely known to have increased enormously in real terms and far more than most other assets in the world.

This is to be expected because these resources are limited above all others, while technological progress and economic growth make them increasingly valuable. Looking to the future, control over land and sea areas is therefore more valuable than most other things.

Marine resources and the EU

The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, or TFEU, explicitly states in Article 3 that the EU alone, rather than its member states, controls the use of living resources in the waters of member states. The European Commission exercises this power.