France ratifies Caribbean border with the Netherlands — 377 years after it was drawn

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France’s National Assembly on Thursday approved legislation that puts a Caribbean island’s border into law — nearly four centuries after French and Dutch governments agreed to divide it.

Lawmakers adopted a bill authorizing ratification of the 2023 agreement “on the delimitation of the border between France (Saint-Martin) and the Netherlands (Sint Maarten).”

The treaty gives legal certainty to one of Europe’s most unusual frontiers: an open border between EU territory on the French side and Sint Maarten, a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also comprises the Netherlands, Aruba and Curaçao, but lies outside the EU. Residents move freely between the two every day despite living under different customs, immigration and tax regimes.

The border dates back to 1648, when France and the Netherlands agreed to divide the Caribbean island of Saint Martin but never precisely delineated its border. Instead, a de facto frontier emerged over the centuries, creating recurring disputes over permits, law enforcement and environmental management around the lagoon.

It ultimately took Hurricane Irma in 2017, which devastated more than 95 percent of the island’s buildings, to push Paris and The Hague to finally settle the question.

“France can be proud of having settled one of its oldest territorial disputes,” lawmaker Bertrand Bouyx, who steered the legislation through parliament, wrote in a report accompanying the bill.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands must still ratify the agreement before entering into force.