New Caledonian leaders (left) met with the French President Emmanuel Macron and other ministers and officials in Paris on Tuesday. Photo: AFP or licensors
New Caledonia will hold another independence referendum in December, according to reports in French media.
Leaders from the Pacific territory have spent a week in Paris for meetings and briefings regarding preparations for another vote, the third in five years.
The leaders also held talks with French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, in a meeting which had been in doubt until the last minute.
The outcome of the week's discussions will be presented to the French Council of Ministers on Wednesday, but French media is reporting that a 12 December date is planned.
Under the 1998 Noumea Accord, another independence referendum has to be held by October 2022.
The anti-independence camp favoured a date as soon as possible, while the pro-independence side said it would rather a vote be held after next year's French presidential elections.
Last year's referendum saw 53 percent vote to remain with France, a further narrowing of the gap between pro- and anti-independence groups on the 2017 vote, where 56.7 percent voted to remain.
The newspaper, Le Monde, reports a two-year transition will follow the plebiscite, either to allow the creation of a new state, or a new governance structure to replace to the 1998 Noumea Accord.
AFP reported that talks at Matignon ran late into Monday night to reach an agreement.
