The Association Agreement between the EU and Andorra and San Marino is about to be finalised after nine years of negotiations, announced Maroš Šefčovič, executive vice-president of the European Commission (see EUROPE 13401/17), at a press conference on Tuesday 7 May.
On Friday 26 April, the European Commission adopted proposals for Council Decisions on the signature and provisional application as well as the conclusion of the Association Agreement between the EU and Andorra and San Marino.
The Association Agreement will enable both countries to participate in the EU’s internal market and strengthen cooperation in other policy areas. Their access to the internal market will become comparable to that enjoyed by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein under the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
“Our proposal is now awaiting the green light from the Council, whose work is well advanced, with the upcoming Hungarian Presidency also interested in swift progress”, explained Mr Šefčovič. “Following this, the Association Agreement will be passed on to the European Parliament for its consent”, he added.
At the same time, Andorra and San Marino will complete their own ratification procedures. Andorrans will be consulted in a referendum once the texts have been translated into Catalan. A communication campaign will be organised to inform them of the details of this agreement.
It will “strengthen Andorra’s place in the international arena, grant its citizens and businesses new rights and opportunities linked to the possibility of participating in the internal market”, and ultimately bring Andorra closer to the European Union, its reference area, according to Xavier Espot, head of the Andorran government.
In San Marino, the text will be submitted to the national parliament for approval. “We have reached an important agreement, which takes account of our specific characteristics and the necessary convergence between different legal systems [...]. New horizons of cooperation are opening up between San Marino, Andorra and the EU”, said Luca Beccari, San Marino Minister of Foreign Affairs. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)