The United Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) introduced a new definition of the continental shelf which can extend “to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.” Coastal States can thus have a continental shelf of 200 nautical miles even in the absence of a geomorphological continental shelf, and a continental shelf extending beyond that limit where the presence of certain geomorphological and sedimentary criteria have been recognized by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The rights coastal State can exercise over the continental shelf are specified in Part VI of the UNCLOS. These rights are sovereign and exclusive over the seabed and subsoil, for exploration and exploitation of natural mineral, fossil and biological resources. The French authorities also hold competence recognized by the UNCLOS for: - construction, operation and use of artificial islands and installations; - marine scientific research; - issuing consent for the course of any pipeline; - issuing consent for the course of cables installed or used for exploitation of the continental shelf or of its resources.

In the Law of the Sea, the continental shelf located beyond 200 nautical miles affects the seabed and its subsoil on which the coastal State exerts sovereign rights for purposes of exploration and exploitation of its natural ressources. In those areas, the wealth generated by the exploitation of the natural ressources are shared via the International Seabed Authority between the States which have signed UNCLOS (in particular with the developping States or the ones which do not have access to the sea). The outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles is determined in compliance with the criterias of Article 76 of UNCLOS and notably by the examination of a submission deposited by the Coastal State to the Commission for the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). the outer limit of the French continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles is the final result of the national program EXTRAPLAC after the adoption of recommandations by CLCS, the delineation of the attributed areas with neighbouring States if necessary and the publication by decree. The theme "Outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles" gathers the limits of the extended continental shelf which has been recommended by CLCS and published by a decree of the French Republic.

En droit de la mer, le plateau continental situé au-delà de 200 milles marins concerne le sol et le sous-sol des fonds marins sur lesquels l'Etat côtier exerce des droits souverains aux fins de son exploration et de l'exploration de ses ressources naturelles. Dans ces zones les richesses de l'exploitation des ressources sont partagées entre les pays qui sont signataires de la Convention des Nations unies sur le droit de la mer, en particulier avec ceux en voie de développement ou sans accès à la mer, via l'Autorité Internationale des Fonds Marins. La limite extérieure du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles marins est déterminée selon les dispositions de l'article 76 de la Convention et notamment via l'instruction d'une demande déposée par l'Etat côtier auprès de la Commission des Limites du Plateau Continental. La limite extérieure du plateau continental français au-delà de 200 milles est le résultat final du programme national Extraplac.