OceanLaw On-Line Paper No. 13, March 2002

The Ministerial Declaration of the Fifth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea

Christopher Hedley
Director, OceanLaw; Editor, IGIFL

Abstract
In March 2002, Environment Ministers from nine European countries and the European Commission met in Bergen, Norway, for the Fifth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea. The main outcome of the Conference was the adoption of a Declaration, which is the most comprehensive and detailed Declaration so far adopted under the auspices of the North Sea Conferences. As such, the Declaration represents a significant and substantial framework for cooperation on many key areas of marine environmental policy. This article briefly reviews the background to the North Sea Conferences, and the Fifth Conference in particular, and then reviews the key aspects of the Bergen Declaration, with special reference to those parts dealing with the conservation and management of living marine resources.