The
Collectivity of Saint Martin
The Collectivity of Saint Martin (french: Collectivité de Saint-Martin), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of S ...
was a French
commune for many years and formed part of
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...
, which is an
overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of France and is therefore in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. In 2003, the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...
from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate
overseas collectivity
The French overseas collectivities (''collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies ...
(COM) of France. On 9 February 2007, the
French Parliament
The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...
passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and neighbouring
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in Englis ...
. The new status took effect once the local assembly was elected on 15 February 2007.
Saint Martin remains part of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
.
The new governance structure befitting an overseas collectivity took effect on 15 July 2007 with the first session of the Territorial Council (french: Conseil territorial) and the election of
Louis-Constant Fleming
Louis-Constant Fleming (born 1 December 1946) is a member of the Senate of France, representing the island of Saint-Martin. He was born on the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten, where he attended primary school. He later left the island and ...
as president of the Territorial Council. On 25 July 2008 Fleming resigned after being sanctioned by the
Conseil d'État for one year over problems with his 2007 election campaign. On 7 August,
Frantz Gumbs was elected as President of the Territorial Council. However, his election was declared invalid on 10 April 2009 and
Daniel Gibbs
Daniel Gibbs (born 8 January 1968 in Saint-Martin) is a French Saint-Martinois politician.
Political career
In 2011, he founded Union for Democracy.
He was elected MP to the French National Assembly on 17 June 2012 representing the cons ...
appointed as Acting President of the Territorial Council on 14 April 2009. However, Gumbs was reelected on 5 May 2009.
There currently exists a movement in Saint Martin
for achieving a political unification of the island.
References
{{SaintMartin-stub