Key facts
- France's National Assembly approved legislation to ratify a 2023 agreement on the border between French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten.
- The treaty provides legal certainty to the border between EU territory and Sint Maarten, a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- The border dispute dates back to 1648, when the island was divided but the frontier was never precisely delineated.
- Recurring disputes over permits, law enforcement, and environmental management around a lagoon were common.
- Hurricane Irma in 2017 spurred the two nations to finally settle the border question.
France's National Assembly has approved legislation to ratify a 2023 agreement that legally defines the border between the French Caribbean territory of Saint-Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten. This move formally settles a territorial dispute that has persisted for nearly four centuries, since the initial division of the island in 1648.
The treaty provides legal certainty to one of Europe's most unusual frontiers, an open border between an EU territory and Sint Maarten, which is a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands but lies outside the EU. Residents regularly cross the border, living under different customs, immigration, and tax regimes.
Over the centuries, a de facto frontier emerged without precise delineation, leading to recurring disputes concerning permits, law enforcement, and environmental management, particularly around a shared lagoon. The devastating impact of Hurricane Irma in 2017, which destroyed over 95 percent of the island's buildings, served as a catalyst for Paris and The Hague to finally resolve the long-standing border question.
Lawmaker Bertrand Bouyx, who guided the legislation through parliament, expressed pride in settling one of France's oldest territorial disputes. The agreement will enter into force once the Kingdom of the Netherlands also ratifies it.