The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is the sea area seawards of the coastal sea up to the 200 nautical mile limit. The German waters of the Baltic and North Sea are divided into the so-called coastal sea and the exclusive economic zone. The coastal sea is German sovereign territory: it is thus subject to the jurisdiction of the respective federal state.
The EEZ, on the other hand, is followed by the high seas, which serve the traffic between the states: their free use in the sense of traffic law forms the basis for all worldwide trade. In the Baltic and North Sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone is essentially identical with the so-called German continental shelf.
