Portugal

Basic facts on marine waters

• Territorial sea (12 nm zone): 50,957 km²
• Exclusive Economic Zone: 1,660,456 km²
• Extended continental shelf: 2,400,000 km²

National practices

• Marine Spatial Planning – Situation Plan

National projects

• SIMNORAT – Supporting the Implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning in the North Atlantic Region
• SIMAtlantic – Supporting the Implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning in the Atlantic
• MarSP – Macaronesian Maritime Spatial Planning

Current main uses:

• Marine Spatial Planning in Portugal

The MSP process was approved by parliamentary law. Subsequently, the Portuguese government developed specific legislation for its implementation:

• In April 2014, Law No. 17/2014 settled the basis of spatial planning and management policy for all the Portuguese maritime space, including the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles
• Decree-Law no. 38/2015, published on 12 March 2015 (updated by Decree-Law No.139/2015), established the format and applicability of the maritime spatial plan and transposed to national law the European Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning (Directive 2014/89/EU)

Directorate General for Maritime Policy

Ms. Conceição Santos – Deputy Director General for Maritime Policy

Av. Dr. Alfredo Magalhães Ramalho, N.6
1495-006 Lisbon, Portugal

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