Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls

The Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, sometimes shortened to the Franco-Dutch treaty and in full the Treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the French Republic on the control of persons entering Saint Martin through the airports (

The treaty was signed on 17 May 1994 in Paris, and is drawn up in both a French and Dutch original.

Ratification

Ratification proved to be difficult in the Netherlands. An advice from the

Signatory	Conclusion date	Institution			AB	Entry into force[2]	Ref.
Netherlands	14 September 2006	House of Representatives	130	0	0	1 August 2007	[3]
	17 October 2006	Senate	66	0	0		[4]
	20 October 2006	Royal Assent	Granted				[5]
France	13 July 1995	National Assembly	?	?	?		[6]
	21 July 1995	Senate	?	?	?		[6]
	27 July 1995	Presidential Assent	Granted				[6]

Entry into force and implementation

Article 18 specifies that the treaty enters into force on the first day of the third month following a written declaration of both parties that the constitutional ratification procedure has been completed. The treaty entered into force on 1 August 2007.[2]

The treaty had yet to be implemented as of early 2016. The Sint Maarten government reported in January 2016 that a joint committee had been meeting, and that there was "steady progress" toward its implementation.^[7]

Provisions

The treaty allows for joint border controls to be carried out at the airports of Saint Martin. The treaty specifies that for admittance to Saint Martin, an alient must have a visa (or a landing permit) for both the Dutch side and the French side. This has caused some controversy on the Dutch side, as that part has a more relaxed

Originally, this caused nationals from thirteen countries in the Caribbean region to require visa to land on Princess Juliana Airport which they did not require before. After negotiations, France agreed to limit the additional visa requirements to four countries in the region: Dominica, Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname. There are negotiations to remove Suriname from the list as well.^[8]

Joint border controls will be executed at risk flights^{[clarification needed]} at both airports. The committee and the working group that have been established by article 13 will draw up a list of flights to be subjected to joint border control. Both the committee and the working group are composed of representatives from both sides and meet once a year.^[8]

Implementation is held back by Sint Maarten, whose Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said that implementation will harm tourist interests. The treaty was to be implemented on 1 April 2009, but it was postponed as the working group was still not installed.^{[9][needs update]}

See also

• France–Netherlands border
• Treaty of Concordia
• Visa policy in the European Union
• Visa policy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean

References

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Accord entre le gouvernement de la République Française et le gouvernement du Royaume des Pays-Bas concernant le contrôle de personnes sur les aéroports de Saint-Martin

Dutch Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en de Franse Republiek inzake personencontrole op de luchthavens op Sint Maarten

External links

• Sint Maarten government website
• Saint-Martin government website