The exclusive economic zone is adjacent to the territorial sea and extends to a maximum distance of 200 nautical miles calculated from the baselines.

This is a space in which the coastal State do not practice its sovereignty but only the following rights:

• sovereign rights over the water column, the bed and subsoil for the purposes of:

  • exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources, whether biological or not;

  • exploration and exploitation of the zone for economic purposes, such as the production of energy from water, currents and wind;

• jurisdiction concerning the following fields:

  • construction and use of artificial islands, facilities and works;

  • marine scientific research;

  • protection and preservation of the marine environment.

Apart from the rights and obligations of the coastal States cited above, the exclusive economic zone is a space open to the exercise by any other State of the freedoms set down in the UNCLOS (navigation, overflight, etc.), within the limits set by the Convention.