The European Economic Area (EEA) has 32 special territories of EU member states and EFTA member states which, for historical, geographical, or political reasons, enjoy special status within or outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Association.
The special territories of EU member states are categorised under three headings: nine Outermost Regions (OMR) that form part of the European Union, though they benefit from derogations from some EU laws due to their geographical remoteness from mainland Europe; thirteen Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) that do not form part of the European Union, though they cooperate with the EU via the Overseas Countries and Territories Association; and ten special cases that form part of the European Union (with the exception of the Faroe Islands), though EU laws make ad hoc provisions. The Outermost Regions were recognised at the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, and confirmed by the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that both primary and secondary European Union law applies automatically to the outermost regions, with possible derogations due to the particularities of these territories. The Overseas Countries and Territories are recognised by Article 198 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which allows them to opt into EU provisions on the freedom of movement for workers and freedom of establishment, and invites them to join the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) in order to improve cooperation with the European Union. The status of an uninhabited territory, Clipperton, remains unclear since it is not explicitly mentioned in primary EU law and has a sui generis status at the national level. Collectively, the special territories encompass a population of some 6.1 million people and a land area of about 2,733,792 square kilometres (1,055,500 sq mi). Around 80 percent of this area is represented by Greenland. The largest region by population, the Canary Islands, accounts for more than a third of the total population of the special territories. The smallest by land area is the island of Saba in the Caribbean (13 km2 or 5 sq mi). The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is the only special territory without a permanent population.
Outermost Regions The Outermost Regions (OMR) are territories forming part of a member state of the European Union but situated a significant distance from mainland Europe. Due to this situation, they have derogation from some EU policies despite being part of the European Union.
According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, both primary and secondary European Union law applies automatically to these territories, with possible derogations to take account of their "structural social and economic situation (...) which is compounded by their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development".Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. All form part of the European Union customs area; however, some fall outside of the Schengen Area and the European Union Value Added Tax Area.
Seven Outermost Regions were recognised at the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 (Treaty on European Union): Declaration on the outermost regions of the Community The Treaty of Lisbon included two additional territories (Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin) in 2007. Saint Barthélemy changed its status from OMR to OCT with effect from 1 January 2012. Mayotte, which was an OCT, joined the EU as an OMR with effect from 1 January 2014.
The 9 Outermost Regions of the European Union are:
Flag Coat of armsName Location Area Pop. CapitalLargestsettlement Officiallanguage State AzoresNorth Atlantic236,440Angra do Heroísmo, Horta and Ponta Delgada Ponta DelgadaPortuguese Madeira250,769Funchal Canary Islands2,268,035Santa Cruz de Tenerifeand Las Palmas Las PalmasSpanish French GuianaSouth America292,354Cayenne French GuadeloupeCaribbean380,387Basse-Terre Les AbymesMartinique355,459Fort-de-France Saint Martin36,286Marigot MayotteIndian Ocean320,901Mamoudzou Réunion896,175Saint-Denis Total 5,036,806
Autonomous Regions of Portugal
Azores and Madeira are two groups of Portuguese islands in the Atlantic. Azores and Madeira are integral parts of the Portuguese Republic, but both have the special status as Autonomous Regions, with a degree of self-governance. Some derogations from the application of EU law apply in regards to taxation, fishing and transportation. Their VAT is lower than the rest of Portugal, but they are not outside the EU VAT Area.
Canary Islands The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago off the African coast which form one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain–the country's principal first-level administrative division. They are outside the EU VAT Area.Article 6 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 (as amended) on the common system of value added tax (OJ L 347, 11 December 2006, p. 1) Eur-lex.europa.eu. The Canary Islands are the most populous and economically strongest territory of all the outermost regions in the European Union. The outermost regions office for support and information is located in these islands, in the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria.
French overseas regions
French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion are five French overseas regions (which are also overseas departments) which under French law are treated as integral parts of the Republic that are geographically unique. The euro is legal tender; however, they are outside the Schengen Area and the EU VAT Area.
Mayotte is the newest of the five overseas departments, having changed from an overseas collectivity with OCT status on 31 March 2011. It became an outermost region, and thus part of the EU, on 1 January 2014.
Collectivity of Saint Martin Saint Martin is the only overseas collectivity of France with the status of being an Outermost Region of the EU.Outermost regions, Fact Sheets on the European Union, European Parliament. Retrieved 6 November 2019. As with the French overseas departments, the euro is legal tender in Saint Martin, and it is outside the Schengen Area and the EU VAT Area.
On 22 February 2007, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy were broken away from the French overseas department of Guadeloupe to form new overseas collectivities. As a consequence their EU status was unclear for a time. While a report issued by the French parliament suggested that the islands remained within the EU as outermost regions,Rapport d'information nombre 329 (2004–2005) de MM. Jean-Jacques Hyest, Christian Cointat et Simon Sutour, fait au nom de la commission des lois, déposé le 10 mai 2005. European Commission documents listed them as being outside the European Community. The legal status of the islands was clarified on the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which listed them as an outermost region.See Articles 349 and 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. However, Saint Barthélemy ceased being an outermost region and left the EU, to become an OCT, on 1 January 2012.
Overseas countries and territories The overseas countries and territories (OCT) are dependent territories that have a special relationship with one of the member states of the EU. Their status is described in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and they are not part of the EU or the European Single Market. The Overseas Countries and Territories Association was created to improve economic development and cooperation between the OCTs and the EU,
The OCTs have been explicitly invited by the EU treaty to join the EU-OCT Association (OCTA).Council Decision of 27 November 2001 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Community ("Overseas Association Decision") (2001/822/EC). They were listed in the Article 198 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which aside from inviting them to join OCTA, also provided them the opportunity to opt into EU provisions on the freedom of movement for workersArticle 202 [ex Article 186)] and freedom of establishment.Article 199(5) [ex Article 183(5)] Yet, the freedom of establishment is limited by Article 203 TFEU and the respective Council Decision on OCTs. Its Article 51(1)(a) prescribes only that "the Union shall accord to natural and legal persons of the OCTs a treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment applicable to like natural and legal persons of any third country with whom the Union concludes or has concluded an economic integration agreement." Again this can be, according to Article 51(2)(b) limited. The obligations provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to treatment granted under measures providing for recognition of qualifications, licences or prudential measures in accordance with Article VII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) or the GATS Annex on Financial Services.
The OCTs are not subject to the EU's common external customs tariffsArticle 200(1) [ex Article 184(1)] but may claim customs on goods imported from the EU on a non-discriminatory basis.Article 200(3) and 200(5) [ex Article 184(3) and (5)] They are not part of the EU and the EU acquis does not apply to them, though those joining OCTA are required to respect the detailed rules and procedures outlined by this association agreement (Council Decision 2013/755/EU). OCTA members are entitled to ask for EU financial support.
When the Rome Treaty was signed in March 1957, a total of 15 OCTs existed: French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Comoros Archipelago, French Madagascar, French Somaliland, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, French Togoland, French Cameroons, Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, Trust Territory of Somalia, Netherlands New Guinea. The list was since then revised multiple times, and comprised—as noted by the Lisbon Treaty—25 OCTs in 2007. One of the French territories subsequently switched status from OMR to OCT (Saint Barthélemy), while another French territory switched from OCT to OMR (Mayotte). As of July 2014, there are still 13 OCTs (six with France, six with the Netherlands and one with Denmark) of which all have joined OCTA.
The 13 Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union are:
Flag Coat of armsName Location Area Pop. CapitalLargest settlement Official language(s) Sovereign state GreenlandNorth Atlantic and Arctic56,542 Nuuk Greenlandic Kingdom of Denmark CuraçaoCaribbean155,826 Willemstad Dutch, Papiamento, English Aruba109,435 OranjestadDutch, Papiamento Sint Maarten58,477 PhilipsburgLower Prince's Quarter Dutch, English Bonaire26,552 Kralendijk Dutch Sint Eustatius3,270 Oranjestad Saba2,158 The Bottom French PolynesiaPacific278,786 Papeete FaʻaʻāFrench New Caledonia264,596 Nouméa Wallis-et-Futuna11,151 Mata Utu Saint Barthélemy Caribbean9,279 Gustavia Saint Pierre and Miquelon North Atlantic5,819 Saint-Pierre French Southern and Antarctic Lands Indian Ocean and Antarctica0Saint-Pierre Port-aux-Français (base) Total 2,630,007 km2 (1,015,451 sq mi)981,891
Overseas Countries and Territories Association The Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) is an organisation founded on 17 November 2000 and headquartered in Brussels. All OCTs have joined OCTA as of February 2020. Its purpose is to improve economic development in overseas countries and territories, as well as cooperation with the European Union. On 25 June 2008, a Cooperation Treaty between the EU and OCTA was signed in Brussels. The current chairman is Louis Mapou.
French overseas territories