New Caledonia's signatories of the Noumea Accord will today hold their last meeting chaired by the French prime minister Edouard Philippe.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe reacts after receiving a flower neklace during a welcoming ceremony at the Tiga chiefdom, on Tiga island, in the archipelago of the Loyalty Islands, during their visit to the French overseas territory of New Caledonia on December 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Fred Payet Photo: AFP or licensors
The talks in Paris are expected to finalise the exact question for the independence referendum due on 4 November.
The Accord has called for the decolonisation process to end with a vote on full sovereignty but views diverge on how this should be interpreted to be turned into a question.
Some have suggested the question should be whether voters want New Caledonia to be independent while others want the question to ask whether voters want to stay with France.
The last meeting in November has resolved the issue of the restricted electoral roll and prompted the French legislature to alter the law to accommodate a further 11,000 voters.
The Paris talks have followed acrimony among New Caledonia's leaders over the process of releasing the referendum date as some people had objected to accompanying texts over France's colonial role.