The

Collectivity of Saint Martin The Collectivity of Saint Martin (), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on the northern half of the Saint Martin (island), island of Saint Martin, as well as so ...

was a French commune for many years and formed part of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, 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 Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In 2003, the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate

overseas collectivity The French overseas collectivities ( abbreviated as 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 and other French ...

(COM) of France. On 9 February 2007, the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and neighbouring

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

. The new status took effect once the local assembly was elected on 15 February 2007. Saint Martin remains part of the

. The new governance structure befitting an overseas collectivity took effect on 15 July 2007 with the first session of the Territorial Council () and the election of Louis-Constant Fleming as president of the Territorial Council. On 25 July 2008 Fleming resigned after being sanctioned by the

Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...

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 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