5.5 Legal Status of the EEZ

The sui generis character: the EEZ is neither territorial sea nor high seas — the THIRD thing: the coastal state's resource rights + the other states' preserved freedoms (the navigation, the overflight, the cables-and-pipelines' laying — the high-seas freedoms "and other internationally lawful uses"); the duties' balance: the coastal state's conservation duty, the flag states' laws' compliance; the zone's resources' character (the coastal state's rights functional — the zone NOT the state's territory); the "functional zone" as the exam's keyword — the EEZ as the compromise's monument (the coastal control's economics + the maritime freedom's navigation). Exam Focus Long questions: (i) The EEZ's full regime (concept-resources-status — the banker); (ii) The landlocked-and-GDS participation (the surplus's craft). Short questions: the patrimonial sea; the maximum sustainable yield; the sui generis character; the single boundary. Trick areas: (i) The EEZ = 200 NM from the BASELINES; (ii) The coastal state's rights are FUNCTIONAL (resources) — the freedoms survive (the "200-mile sovereignty" error is the classic); (iii) The landlocked's participation = the SURPLUS of LIVING resources only, BY AGREEMENT (not the automatic share); (iv) The EEZ's waters vs the shelf's seabed — the same 200-mile band's two regimes; (v) The GDS ≠ the landlocked (the two categories' overlap-and-distinction).