WikiPortallus: French Overseas Departments and Territories

The French Overseas Departments and Territories (French: départements d'outre-mer and territoires d'outre-mer or DOM-TOM) consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France (except those with no permanent inhabitants), and the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. The French Overseas Departments and Territories include island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, a territory on the South American coast, and several periantarctic islands as well as an extensive claim in Antarctica. 2,597,318 people lived in the French Overseas Departments and Territories in January 2008.^[1]

From a legal and administrative standpoint, departments are very different from territories: according to the French constitution, French laws and regulations generally apply (civil code, penal code, administrative law, social laws, tax laws et cetera), in departments as in the mainland. However, specific laws and regulations can be adapted to their specific situation. In territories, the principle is the opposite: territories are governed by autonomy statutes that allow them to make their own laws, except for some specific areas (like defense, international relations, international trade and currency, courts and administrative law), as provided in the autonomy statute, that are reserved to the central government and its local appointee.

Varying constitutional statuses

Overseas Departments and Overseas Regions

Overseas Collectivities

This category was created with the constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. Each collectivity has its own statutory laws.

Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy

In 2003 the population of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form separate overseas collectivities of France.^[2] On February 7, 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both Saint Barthélemy and neighbouring Saint Martin. ^[3] The new status took effect on 22 February 2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel.^[4] They remain part of the European Union, as explicitly stated in the Treaty of Lisbon.^[5]

Sui Generis Collectivity

New Caledonia has a unique status and is not even a territorial collectivity, unlike all other French subdivisions. As a result of the 1998 Nouméa Accord, New Caledonians will vote on an independence referendum scheduled between 2014 and 2019. This referendum will determine whether the territory remains a part of the French Republic as an overseas collectivity, or whether it will become an independent nation. The accords also specify a gradual devolution of powers to the local New Caledonian assembly.

Overseas Country

The status of overseas country (French: Pays d'outre-mer), projected for French Pacific dependencies, was finally never created. The 2004 status of French Polynesia gives it this designation, but also recalls that it belongs to the category of overseas communities. The Constitutional Council of France confirmed that the designation of overseas country had no legal consequences. Since its status has no name and since its parliament can make local laws, New Caledonia is sometimes incorrectly termed an overseas country.

Minor Territories

Political representation in the French Parliament

With 2,597,318 inhabitants in 2008, the French overseas departments and territories account for 4.0% of the population of the French Republic.^[1] They enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament.

Representation in the National Assembly

In the 13th Legislature (2007-2012), the French overseas departments and territories are represented by 22 deputies in the French National Assembly, accounting for 3.8% of the 577 deputies in the National Assembly:

Representation in the Senate

As of August 2008, the French overseas departments and territories are represented by 15 senators in the French Senate, accounting for 4.5% of the 331 senators in the Senate: