Two parts of the treaty of the European Community deal with special relationships: Article 299 which sets out the territories to which the treaty applies, supplemented by the accession treaties; and Articles 182-188 and Annex II on association with the non-European countries and territories which have special relations with the member states.

The outermost regions are 7 regions (4 in France, 2 in Portugal, 1 in Spain) where EC law applies, but where it is possible to derogate to common EC legislation to take account of their remoteness.

The overseas countries and territories (OCTs) are 21 countries that have a special relationship with one of the Member States of the European Community: 12 with the UK, 6 with France, 2 with the Netherlands, 1 with Denmark. Together with other countries they benefit from the European Development Fund (EDF) [1], not the Regional policy.

[edit] See also

• Special member state territories and their relations with the EU
• European Union member states
• History of the European Union
• List of European Union pages
• List of dependent territories