§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the present boundaries of the United Kingdom: (a) on the Continental Shelf; (b) in the waters of the sea. [HL2225]
Whether all United Kingdom boundaries have now been determined; if not, which are still being negotiated; whether those that have been determined have been published; if so, where; and, if not, when they will be. [HL2226]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The United Kingdom's Continental Shelf boundaries with neighbouring states have for the most part been delimited by bilateral agreements with the states concerned, all of which are published as command papers in the United Kingdom treaty series. Negotiations continue between the United Kingdom and Denmark concerning the delimitation of the Continental Shelf between the United Kingdom and Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands). Further negotiations may be needed in due course concerning other areas, including the determination of the outer edge of the continental margin in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The agreements and decisions concerning the delimitation of the United Kingdom's Continental Shelf with other countries are as follows:
Agreement with Norway of 10 March 1965 (Cmnd 2757), and Protocol of 22 December 1978 (Cmnd 7853);
Agreement with Denmark of 25 November 1971 (Cmnd 5193);
Agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany of 25 November 1971 (Cmnd 5192);
Agreement with The Netherlands of 6 October 1965 (Cmnd 3254) and Protocol of 25 November 1971 (Cmnd 5173);
Agreement with Belgium of 29 May 1991 (Cm 2499);
Decisions of the UK-France Court of Arbitration of 30 June 1977 and 14 March 1978 (Cmnd 7438);
62WAAgreement with France of 24 June 1982 (Cmnd 8859)—see also the Agreement with France relating to the Delimitation of the Territorial Sea in the Straits of Dover of 2 November 1988 (Cm 733);
Agreement with France of 23 July 1991 (Cm 1979);
Agreement with the Republic of Ireland of 7 November 1988 (Cm 990) and Protocol of 8 December 1992 (Cm 2302).
By virtue of the Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), British fishery limits currently extend 200 miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, except as provided in S.I. 1997/1750 or where the median line between those baselines and the corresponding baselines of other countries is less than 200 miles from those baselines.