MARIGOT/PARIS--French Minister of Overseas Territories Annick Girardin, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Affairs in the Netherlands Raymond Knops, Prime Minister of St. Maarten Leona Marlin-Romeo, and President of the Collectivité of St. Martin Daniel Gibbs met Thursday at the Hôtel de Montmorin for a fourth quadripartite meeting to discuss Franco-Dutch cooperation on the island of St. Martin.
In accordance with the three priorities identified by President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the European Summit in Göteborg on November 17, 2017, the authorities of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Government of St. Maarten and the Collectivité of St. Martin reaffirmed their determination to strengthen their cooperation on several themes.
The themes included reconstruction, rehabilitation and enhancement of the Simpson Bay Lagoon, joint waste treatment, crisis management and fire-fighting. The parties also wish to improve the maritime links of the island together, in particular with Anguilla, and be equipped with the means to better know the circulation of goods and to fight illegal immigration networks.
Finally, they wish to continue to strengthen their cooperation in judicial, police and customs areas and increase their resources in the fight against fraud.
The authorities of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Government of St. Maarten and the Collectivité of St. Martin stated that transparency and reciprocity should remain the basis of their partnership relationship.
They set for themselves the objective of defining together shared priorities to accompany the harmonious development of both parts of the island. On this occasion, the Collectivité of St. Martin and the Government of St. Maarten also reiterated their commitment to work towards the creation of a United Congress of St. Martin dialogue forum.
All these points are contained in a Final Declaration of 13 articles, which was signed by the four parties at the end of the meeting.
