Ultraperipheral region – Wikipedia

A Ultrapheric region ( RUP ) is a territory of the European Union but located outside the European continent. The RUPs were recognized for the first time in a declaration annexed to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Since 2009, they have been defined at the article 349 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union which specifies the way in which European law can be adapted to it.

Ultraperipheral regions are part of the European Union, they are included in the euro zone, the common market and the European customs territory, and their nationals have European citizenship, unlike other ultramarine territories dependent on member countries ‘European Union called overseas countries and territories (PTOM). The latter are not part of community territory, although their nationals have European citizenship. In addition, neither the overseas departments (which are ultraperipheral regions), nor the countries and territories of the overseas are part of the Schengen area (apart from the Azores, the Canaries and Madeira).

Ultraperipheral regions appear in light blue on the map below of the territories associated with the European Union. They are in the Atlantic Ocean, in South America and the Indian Ocean.

List of Ulrapéripheral Regions [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Since first ^is January 2017 , there are nine ulrapper -heading regions:

They bring together more than 4.5 million inhabitants and received 1.03 billion euros per year under the regional policy of the European Union ^{[ first ]} . They represent a large part of the maritime territory of the European Union which allows it with 25 million km ² to occupy the first rank in the world. They also provide the European Union exotic agricultural products (rum, cane sugar, bananas, etc.) and benefit in return from the program of options specific to distance and insularity. They represent almost 80% of European biodiversity.

Their existence is recognized by the article 349 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFUE) (ex- article 299 , paragraph 2, of the treaty establishing the European Community).

RUP status attests to the specificity of these regions compared to the rest of the EU. Indeed, their development is made difficult by distance, the insularity and their dependence on some productions (sugar, bananas, etc.). On the other hand, they allow the supply of EU markets to exotic products but above all control over the vast maritime areas that surround them ^{[ 2 ]} .

RUP status allows the Member State to adapt European law to several aspects ^{[ 3 ]} :

• RUPs are excluded from community tax territory and therefore do not apply the provisions of intra-community VAT, allowing the Member Staff to apply a derogatory rate.
• RUPs can benefit from state aid for the development of regions as well as tax exemptions, based on the derogation granted by article 87.3 of the TFUE.
• Residents or carriers can benefit from subsidies for essential air or sea journeys to maintain territorial continuity.
• The RUPs apply the provisions of the Cotonou agreement concluded between the EU and the ACP countries concerning regional cooperation and the import of products.

When Mayotte has become a French overseas department on 31 mars 2011 , this new status authorized him to evolve towards the status of RUP, whose attribution is however dissociated from the status of DROM. The island has since become the ninth RUP, in accordance with the Article 355 paragraph 6 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union, according to an official communication ^{[ 4 ]} . On July 11, 2012, the European Council adopted the 2012/419/EU decision, which acts on the passage of Mayotte to the status of RUP in the first ^is January 2014 ^{[ 5 ]} . After consultation with the European Parliament, the opinion of which is adopted without amendment in plenary session on December 12, 2013 ^{[ 6 ]} , the Council of the European Union adopted on December 17 a directive adapting Community law to the modification of the status of Mayotte ^{[ 7 ]} .

Since first ^is January 2012 Saint-Barthélemy is no longer an ultraperipheral region of the European Union. Saint-Martin (French part) has kept its status as a RUP, which has been its since its detachment from Guadeloupe and its accession to the status of Com ^{[ 8 ] , [ 9 ]} .

When the Federation of Dutch West Indies was dissolved, on October 10, 2010, the island territories of Bonaire, Saba and Saint-Eustache became from Dutch municipalities to special status. Consequently, the Government of the Netherlands requested, following this reform, the reclassification of these territories in the Ulrapéripheral regions of the European Union. On the other hand, the Dutch island territories of Curaçao and Saint-Martin having become like ARUBA of the autonomous states associated with the Crown of the Netherlands, their status as countries and overseas territories has been preserved.

Summary of European statutes of UlTrapheuric Regions [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

This synthetic table represents the European legal statutes of the nine ultraperipheral regions.

Conference of deputies from UlTrapheuric Regions in the European Parliament [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

first ^re Legislature 2009-2014 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Conference of RUP deputies in the European Parliament was founded in September 2009 on the initiative of all the European deputies of the RUP in order to seal a collective defense unit of the RUP at the level of European institutions. The creation of this conference was consolidated by the drafting of a joint platform of proposals for the RUPs given to the president of the European Commission at the time, José Manuel Barroso.

The Conference of RUP deputies regularly meets in Brussels and Strasbourg in order to prepare all the files to concern the RUP at European level. Regular meetings are organized with the president of the European Commission, and the various European commissioners, in order to mention all the problematic subjects and to find solutions to the claims of the RUP based on the basis of article 349.

2 ^{It is} legislature 2014-2019 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Conference of RUP deputies was reconstituted in 2014 after the European elections. It is composed for the 2014-2020 legislature of Younous Omarjee, Maurice Ponga, Louis-Joseph Manscour, Gabriel Mato, Luis Fernando Lopez Aguillar, Sofia Ribeiro, Claudia Monteiro de Aguiar, Ricardo Serrao Santo, Liliana Rodrigues.

Regular work between the Conference of RUP deputies in the European Parliament and the regional development commissioner, Corina Cretu, has been formalized for the first time. Jointly the conference and the commissioner are on the initiative of the thematic work meeting to which the other commissioners responsible for particularly important policies are invited for RUP: fishing, maritime policy, environment, research, domestic market, competition policy, external relations and external commercial policy, agriculture, etc.

Conferences of the presidents of the Ultraperipheral regions [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

References [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Bibliography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Decision 2010/718/EU of the Council modifying the statute with regard to the European Union of the island of Saint-Barthélemy, 32010D0718, adopted on October 29, 2010, OJ of December 9, 2010, p. 4-5, entered into force the first ^is January 2012 [ online , Bibliographic notice ]
• Bruce Millan , Cooperation for European territory planning – Europe 2000 Plus , Brussels, Commission of the European Communities, 1994 , 247 p. (ISBN  92-826-9100-4 , read online )
  • “Annex: transnational perspectives of European territorial development” , in Bruce Millan, Cooperation for European territory planning – Europe 2000 Plus , 1994

• Decision of the European Council amending the status with regard to the European Union of Mayotte , July 11, 2012 , first p. ( read online )
• Directorate of the Regional Policy of the European Commission, Ultraperipheral regions. Regions of Europe, assets and opportunities , 2012 , 44 p. ( read online )
• (in) « The customs and fiscal territories of the European Community » , on Customs (version of December 25, 2008 on Internet Archive )
• Regulation 562/2006 of the European Parliament and Council establishing a community code relating to the border crossing regime by persons (Schengen border code), 32006R0562, adopted on March 15, 2006, OJ of April 13, 2006, p. 1-32, entered into force on October 13, 2006 [ online , Bibliographic notice ]
• Decision 1999/95/EC of the Council on monetary arrangements relating to French local authorities in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and Mayotte, 31999D0095, adopted on December 31, 1998, OJ of February 4, 1999, p. 29-30, entered into force on December 31, 1998 [ online , Bibliographic notice ]
• Jacques Ziller « The European Union and Overseas », Powers , The threshold, vol. 113, n ^O 2, 2005 , p. 125-136 (ISSN  0152-0768 , résumé , read online )

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