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With the 1988 Matignon Agreements, the polemical question of self-determination for New Caledonia was put off for 10 years, at which time, in 1998, the Nouméa Accord set out arrangements for the next 15–20 years. A regime based on “shared sovereignty” was put in place, creating a type of federation between France and New Caledonia, with New Caledonia eventually to have its own form of citizenship and legislative power. The more than four years since the Nouméa signing allow for analysis of the principles and functioning of the institutions that underpin the accord.