Is France Giving Up on Its Overseas Territories?

National Front leader Marine Le Pen slams President Francois Hollande’s proposal that Tromelin Island in the Indian Ocean be jointly administered by France and Mauritius. The 1 sq km isle boasts considerable fish stocks and could also be rich in oil and gas.

Mauritius claims sovereignty over Tromelin Island, which has an Exclusive Economic Zone of 280,000 square kilometers.

In 2010 France and Mauritius reached an agreement to co-manage the island, but the accord was never ratified by the French parliament.

The National Assembly is set to discuss the matter on January 18, but Marine Le Pen has condemned what she described as “squandering of lands” by the outgoing president Francois Hollande.

In an interview with Sputnik France, Anne Taraud, an inspector of the Administration of French Southern and Antarctic Territories (TAAF) said that, in keeping with Article 72.3 of the French Constitution, Tromelin Island is an administrative entity not a single ethnic group shall permanently reside in.

”We allow scientists to come and work on this French-administered territory, which includes vast areas of the Indian Ocean,” she said, adding that the principles of the joint administration of the island remain unclear as Mauritius is still waiting for the French ratification of the 2010 agreement.

In keeping with the agreement, France and Mauritius will cooperate in areas like environmental protection, fisheries, meteorology and archeology.

“As far as I know, there are no considerable oil and gas deposits on the island. There could be some, but to know for sure we need permission to examine the ocean floor,” she noted.

Market magazine’s Editor Arnaud Dotézac described Marine Le Pen’s aggressive stance on the former French overseas territories by their vast resources of fish and possible underwater deposits of oil, gas and metals.

“The ocean plays a very important role here, it’s a strategic factor and the overseas territories were the first place Marine Le Pen went to as part of her presidential campaign. She may be right, but from the legal standpoint this would require a court ruling or a small war. For her it is a political issue,” Arnaud Dotézac noted.

He added that given Marine Le Pen’s dislike of the European Union, he fully shared her desire to defend territories that do not fall under Brussel’s jurisdiction.

“France fears that if Mauritius is granted the autonomous right to issue fishing licenses, this could invite an 'invasion' of Chinese and Japanese fishermen,” Arnaud Dotézac said.

The agreement to co-manage Tromelin Island puts the issue of its sovereign status on the back burner, just like that of its military protection, which is ensured by France, as Mauritius has no naval force of its own.

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