French Polynesia's unreciprocated European Status

Click here to view the NEW French Polynesian immigration procedure:
Ordonnace No. 2000-372

Click here to view the outdated French Polynesian immigration
procedure for NON FRENCH citizens of the European Union

The original objective of this website was to inform Pacific cruisers about the present situation concerning the financial bond for EU citizens entering French Polynesia. The bond ("Caution de Rapatriement," an amount of money equal to the price of a one way ticket to your home country) used to be demanded by the French Polynesian authorities of ALL visiting foreign crew members, including French nationals, arriving in the T.O.M. (Territoire d'Outre Mer). Since its inception, the objective of this website has broadened to inform EU citizens about their legal rights on the French overseas territory.
France has signed several treaties together with 15 European nations to become one community, with equal rights of citizens and free trade of goods across the borders.

Court decisions in Papeete/Tahiti have confirmed the validity of EU law for the Territoire d'Outre Mer since 1993 .We cannot understand that the local authorities continue to refuse to acknowledge this fact.

Our friend Jan van Drunen, a Dutch sculptor who sailed to French Polynesia in 1993 on his sloop Ma'at, is the first european sailor to our knowledge who successfully filed suit before the Tribunal Administratif in Papeete and won against the French authorities. Since the 20th of December 1995, French citizens have gained the exclusive privilege of exemption from the bond once arriving in the Territoire d'Outre Mer. Of course the French gendarmes had no problem enforcing this new laxity for their compatriots.

In April 1999, the EU-Commission in Brussels officially started the Infringement Procedure No. 99/4232, SG(99) A/1883/2, after Article 169 of the EU-Treaty against the French Republic.

Gendarmerie boarding Pangaea On the 25th of May 1999, the Judge M. Alfred Poupet from the Tribunal Administratif de Papeete, decided against our case. This means, the European Treaty of Rome is only valid for FRENCH NATIONALS since December 20, 1995, while a colonial decret from 1939 still applies for all other european citizens.

On the 14th of July 1999, we appealed before the Cour Administrative d'appel de Paris against this decision. We have been informed by the Cour administrative that it will take approximately 2 Years until a date for the appeal can be determined. So stay tuned for the final until Bastille Day : The 14th of July 2001.

	* Our conflict with the French Authorities, 1998/2001 * Lawsuit : Ginsberg-Klemmt c/ Etat Francais * Presidence de la République Francaise
	* European Commission in Brussels pursues Infringement Procedure after Article 169 of the EU Treaty * International Treaties, Laws and Court Decisions
	Correspondence with: * Auswärtiges Amt * German Consulate and Embassy
Publications, News, Web, Magazines, ect..
	"Néo-colonialisme Européen..." SCANNED ORIGINAL (380 KB) Tahiti-Pacifique, Editorial March 1999
Herr Alex du Prel	* A Controversial Dialogue with Herrn Alex du Prel, Director and Editor of the French Polynesian magazine Tahiti-Pacifique, via E-mail * Herr Alex du Prel and the pride in his noble German descent * Herr Alex Du Prel objects to his picture on this website : "Don't call me Herr!" * See his uncensored photo, ironically, in a story where he claims to have been censored himself by President Gaston Flosse!