AI regulation in New Caledonia (2026)

New Caledonia is formally associated with the EU as an OCT but lies outside the EU internal market; EU regulations, including the EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689, in force August 2024), do not apply directly to OCTs as confirmed by Articles 198–204 TFEU and the Act's own territorial scope in Article 2.

Under Organic Law 99-209 (Noumea Accord framework), New Caledonia's Congress has power to enact 'lois du pays' with force of law in areas within its competence; French national legislation only applies if explicitly extended to the territory, meaning no blanket coverage by French AI-related rules.

France's National AI Strategy (launched 2018, reinforced under France 2030 with approximately €2.5 billion allocated) is a metropolitan policy framework and research-funding instrument; no documented formal extension of this strategy to New Caledonia has been found.

As of May 2026, the New Caledonian Congress has passed no AI-specific legislation, resolution, or published AI strategy. The most recent relevant digital legislation is a 2024 connectivity bill (projet de loi du pays pour une meilleure connectivité, report no. 44/GNC, June 2024) addressing broadband infrastructure, not AI governance.

New Caledonia experienced serious civil unrest from May 2024 linked to electoral reform disputes, disrupting government operations and legislative activity; this context further constrains the territory's near-term capacity to develop dedicated AI governance frameworks.

France's data protection authority CNIL technically has some jurisdiction over New Caledonia for personal data matters, but CNIL's AI-specific guidance and the GDPR framework's reach in the territory are legally distinct from, and do not constitute, a comprehensive AI regulatory regime for New Caledonia.