National overview: Greece

The dataset contains boundaries (polygons) of marine waters as well as subregion and assessment areas boundaries within marine waters under the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Republic. The dataset was created for reporting against the different elements required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Hellenic Republic's marine waters are described including the following: Territorial sea: Greece has established a territorial sea of 12 nm in the Ionian Sea by Law 4767/21 ("Establishment of the breadth of the territorial sea in the maritime area of the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands up to Cape Tainaron of the Peloponnese"). In the remaining part of the Greek territory, Greece has currently a 6 nm territorial sea (cf. Law 230 of 17 September 1936), while at the same time reserving the right to extend its territorial sea up to 12 nm (see article 1 of the above mentioned law 4767/21 as well as article two of law 2321/1995, ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). Continental shelf: According to article 2, par. 1 of Law No. 2289/1995 "on prospecting exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and other provisions", as amended by Law No. 4001/2011: "In the absence of a delimitation agreement with neighboring States, whose coasts are opposite or adjacent to the coasts of the Hellenic Republic, the outer limit of the continental shelf and of the exclusive economic zone (once declared) is the median line, every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines (both continental and insular) from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured". Maritime boundary agreements: Regarding maritime boundary agreements conducted by Greece: a. The 1926 Greek-Turkish Protocol of Athens delimits the lateral boundary between Greece and Turkey seaward of Evros river; b. in the Dodecanese area, the boundary is delimited by the two 1932 agreements between Italy and Turkey, to which Greece is a successor State, namely the "Agreements of 4th of January 1932 concerning sovereignty over islets between the coasts of Anatolia and the island of Castellorizo, as well as over the islet of Kara-Ada and on the delimitation of the territorial waters surrounding the said territories" and, in execution of this agreement, the procès-verbal of 28th of December 1932; c. in the Ionian Sea, Greece and Italy conducted in 1977 an Agreement on the delimitation of their continental shelf; d. Greece and Egypt conducted an Agreement on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone between the two countries (August 6, 2020). Upon entry into force of the Agreement, an Exclusive Economic Zone of Greece has been declared in that area, and e. in the Ionian Sea, Greece and Italy conducted an Agreement on the delimitation of their respective maritime zones (June 9, 2020). The boundary line of their respective maritime zones shall be the continental shelf boundary established under the 1977 Agreement between the two countries. Coastal waters: Coastal waters in accordance with the identification of Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) Coastal Water Bodies (CWBs). Aggregated Coastal Water Bodies (CWBs), as defined by the WFD monitoring program. The aggregation of CWBs in grouped oceanographic supra-units took place, considering the homogeneity of the hydrological and oceanographic characteristics of the individual water bodies (temperature, salinity, mixing characteristics, turbidity, transparency, depth, currents, wave action and nutrient levels), as well as the presence of nearby monitoring stations.