The purpose of this article is to explore the normative nature of the Ecosystem Approach in international environmental law. To do so, the article examines the implementation of this approach in two Mediterranean regimes: the Barcelona Convention and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. As these two regimes have implemented the Ecosystem Approach by taking into account the experiences of other international regimes, they are representative of broader trends in relation to this concept. The examination reveals that the Ecosystem Approach operates as an interstitial principle: a norm that fulfils the functions of a principle with regard to other rules, but is devoid of normative autonomy. This understanding of the Ecosystem Approach brings clarity to a concept that is ambiguous yet is widely disseminated in environmental governance. It may also further the progressive emergence of the Ecosystem Approach as a general principle of international environmental law.

中文翻译：

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生态系统方法的规范性质：地中海案例研究

本文旨在探讨生态系统方法在国际环境法中的规范性。为此，本文研究了这种方法在两个地中海制度中的实施情况：巴塞罗那公约和地中海渔业总委员会。由于这两个制度通过考虑其他国际制度的经验来实施生态系统方法，因此它们代表了与这一概念相关的更广泛的趋势。审查表明，生态系统方法作为一种间隙原则运作：一种在其他规则方面实现原则功能但缺乏规范自主性的规范。对生态系统方法的这种理解使一个模糊但在环境治理中广泛传播的概念变得清晰。它还可能进一步推动生态系统方法逐渐成为国际环境法的一般原则。