| Belgium became officialy a federal state in 1993. The federal competence was reshuffeled and parts of it attributed to the Communities and Regions. Since the latter became competent in economic matters, it is mostly the redistribution of powers between the federal and regional level which is at order in this study. At first sight, a rather simple rule of thumb can be applied. All waters located on the land-side of the baseline, i.e. the low-water line in Belgium, belong to the competence of the Regions. All waters on the seaside of the baseline, on the other hand, remain a federal competence. This is the result of a basic interpretation given by the Conseil d’Etat in 1976. This body reached the conclusion that the territorial sea did not form part of the... |
