02nd June 2017
Honorable Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and His Excellency, Ambassador Philippe Ardanaz, Ambassador of France to the O.E.C.S Member States met
in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda on Wednesday 15th March 2017, and signed the Agreement between the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and the Government
of the Republic of France on the Delimitation of the Maritime Space between Antigua and Barbuda and France in the Caribbean Region.
This Agreement establishes single maritime boundaries for the delimitation of the maritime space, in this instance, the Exclusive Economic Zone in accordance
with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea between Antigua and Barbuda and Guadeloupe on one hand and Antigua and Barbuda
and St. Barthélémy on the other hand.
Antigua and Barbuda also shares boundaries which remain to be delimited with St. Kitts and Nevis as well as the United Kingdom
in respect of Anguilla and Montserrat.
This agreement was concluded within the spirit of the OECS Eastern Caribbean Regional Ocean Policy and the principles of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre
establishing the OECS Economic Union.
This delimitation was made possible through the support and technical assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat, through the Oceans and Natural Resources Division
which provided both legal and technical advisors, training and the facilitation of dialogue between both States. The support that they have provided to Antigua and Barbuda
and other OECS and CARICOM Member States in the delimitation of national maritime boundaries and wider concepts of ocean governance has been monumental.
