| Association des pays et territoires d’outre-mer de l’Union européenne | |
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| Abbreviation | OCTA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 17 November 2000; 25 years ago (2000-11-17) |
| Type | International organization |
| Purpose | Economic and social cooperation[2] |
| Headquarters | Brussels,Belgium |
Region | Special member state territories of EU |
| Membership | 13 |
Official language | English,French |
Chairman |  Louis Mapou |
| Website | www |
Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA;French:Association des pays et territoires d'outre-mer de l'Union européenne,PTOM)[3][1] is aninternational organisation founded on 17 November 2000 during the conference of prime ministers of overseas countries and territories inBrussels, Belgium. It includes almost allspecial member state territories of European Union whose purpose is to improve economic development in overseas countries and territories and cooperation with theEuropean Union. It currently has 13 members.[4] On 25 June 2008, a Cooperation Treaty between the EU and OCTA was signed in Brussels.[5]
Prior toBrexit, until 31 January 2020, there had been 22 Overseas Countries and Territories associated with the European Union and members of OCTA.[6]
Since 2011, the chairmen are chosen annually and their function is to head the organization and elect an Executive Committee. The current[7] and previous[8] chairmen are:
The members of OCTA are:[6]
The forum between OCTs,European Union and its member states to which OCTs are linked, has been held annually since 2003 alternating between Brussels (Belgium) and an OCT:[12]
