Based on section 18a of the German Regional Planning Act a concept for the spatial structure of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea and Baltic Sea is being developed. In this context the demands of Marine Nature Conservation have to be prepared and considered. Federal Government is entitled to develop principles of regional planning and define reservation areas and priority areas for the protection of the marine environment. These can supplement or extend the protected marine areas defined by federal government as Special Protection Areas or protected sites according to the Habitats Directive in the EEZ in compliance with section 38 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Regarding requirements of nature conservation specific criteria of marine ecology define the grade of necessary protection, e.g. of areas with particular importance for the benthos or for bird migration. The paper presented introduces these nature conservation criteria in extracts and explains their classification into the legal categories of spatial planning. With the aid of the specific criteria presented spatial planning has to ensure that the geographical classification of the seascape is considered, that untouched and undisturbed habitats are protected and the areas for breeding, resting and retreat of endangered species are kept free from disturbing land use types. The EEZ is to be protected and developed as geographical unit with typical, natural characteristics of its partial geographic areas as well as in its correlations and interdependencies.