France has had considerable overseas interests in various areas of the world. The present ones vary greatly in size and population. They include territories in the continental land masses of South America and virtually uninhabited parts of Antarctica, as well as archipelagos and individual islands. The principal legislative designations before 2003 were:
DOM (department d'outre-mer or overseas department) with essentially
the same laws as mainland France CT (collectivite territoriale or territorial collectivity) with some level of autonomy TOM (territoire d'outre-mer or overseas territory) with even greater autonomy.
As a result of a reforming act known as the Constitutional Law of 28 March 2003, which paved the way for greater flexibility, various units have been negotiating with the French government to change their legal status. New designations have been added; one of these is COM (collectivite d’outre-mer or overseas collectivity). The exact descriptions and their practical effects are sometimes a matter of disagreement between constitutional lawyers.
For DOMs the legislative updates of metropolitan France apply. In other cases, local legislation has not always been updated to the same degree. In principle there may be room for autonomous legislation on commercial matters (including insurance) and taxation, particularly for the new COMs. The process of change is rather slow, however, due to the small size and limited resources of these territories.
French legislation and practice has always been the basis of insurance operations in these territories. Insurers must be authorised in the same way as those operating in mainland France. Non-admitted insurance is not generally allowed except for marine and aviation risks.
Axco’s non-life Insurance Market Report on France is in production following our consultant’s visit to the country. It will be published in the third quarter 2008. |
