Dec172020

The British Government has transposed EU sanctions regarding the Eastern Mediterranean into UK Law. The Unauthorised Drilling Activities in the Eastern Mediterranean (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 put in place sanctions measures to discourage any hydrocarbon exploration, production or extraction activities which:

  • have not been authorised by the Republic of Cyprus in its territorial sea, or are
  • in its exclusive economic zone
  • on its continental shelf

This includes, in cases where the exclusive economic zone or continental shelf has not been delimited in accordance with international law with a State having an opposite coast, activities which may jeopardise or hamper the reaching of a delimitation agreement.

In effect, this means that the UK will implement the same sanctions that the EU currently imposes on Turkey for its illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, once the UK-EU transition period ends on 31 December 2020. The UK continues to be part of EU sanctions regime until the transition period ends.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-sanctions-relating-to-unauthorised-drilling-activities