Pays d'outre-mer
Pays d'outre-mer (
POM,
French for 'overseas country') is the particular designation the
collectivité d'outre-mer (COM) of
French Polynesia. French Polynesia was formerly a
territoire d'outre-mer (TOM) until the
constitutional reform on
28 March 2003 suppressed this category and created the
collectivité d'outre-mer. The organic law passed on
27 February 2004 gives French Polynesia the particular designation of
pays d'outre-mer while recalling that it belongs to the category of
collectivités d'outre-mer. The constitutional council (
conseil constitutionnel) has ruled that
pays d'outre-mer was just a designation, not a legal status (which would have been unconstitutional).
The territory's new status meant a certain
autonomy for French Polynesia in the
Pacific region, the possibility for the territory to pass some laws of its own, and the establishment of a local French Polynesian
citizenship based on
permanent residence, which is a requirement for the right to vote in regional elections. However, France maintained control over
justice,
public order, the
economy and
defence in the territory.
New Caledonia, which has a unique status (
collectivité sui generis) within the framework of the French Republic, is also sometimes called
pays d'outre-mer, but this is strictly an incorrect designation. If the people of New Caledonia choose to remain part of France in a
referendum on independence scheduled for
2014 or later, the community may also become a
pays d'outre-mer. New Caledonia has unique status in that its assembly may also pass its own laws (
lois de pays) and to bestow a local citizenship upon its permanent residents, and unlike in other French subdivisions (except for
Corsica), the president of the assembly and the president of the territory are different.
* Frédéric Monera, L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris : L.G.D.J., 2004
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French overseas departments and territories*
Administrative divisions of France*
Outremer*
Official site*
past and current developments of France's overseas administrative divisions like pays d'outre-mer (French language)
