EUROPEAN COMMISSION OFFICIAL ON DECLARATION OF ECONOMIC ZONE

LJUBLJANA, Sept 19 (Hina) - The European Commission is very careful with issues concerning national sovereignty, so it will in no way infringe on the right of countries to declare an exclusive economic zone, the head of the European Commission mission in Slovenia, Erwan Foure, said on Friday. #L# Foure was speaking to members of the Slovene Parliament's European Affairs Committee who were interested in the position of the European Commission on Slovenia's present dispute with Croatia over its intention to declare an economic zone in the Adriatic Sea. The European Commission mission chief said that the right to expand jurisdiction at sea was based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which he said fell outside the competence of the European Union. Foure was quoted by the Slovene news agency STA as telling Slovene members of parliament that Brussels advised countries with access to the same sea to decide together about natural resources and the environment. He added that this was a particularly sensitive issue in closed seas such as the Adriatic. (hina) vm