This area of the website contains the information necessary to describe the process of association of the Republic of San Marino with the European Union and provides some details about the negotiations underway to reach an Association Agreement. These include institutionally important documents (agreements, parliamentary deeds, analyses and studies), the current composition of the negotiating team, the timeline and the topics of the negotiating sessions.

After a phase of consultations, meetings and in-depth studies aimed at identifying the best solutions to further strengthen relations within a renewed legal framework, on 16 December 2014 the Council of the European Union officially granted the Commission the mandate to negotiate one or more Association Agreements with the Republic of San Marino, the Principality of Andorra and the Principality of Monaco.

Following this decision, the ceremony to launch the negotiations was held on 18 March 2015 in Brussels, in the presence of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (see here the video of the ceremony).

Negotiations then took place between the European External Action Service and the delegations of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, with the aim of resolving the institutional issues of the future Association Agreement(s) (objectives, structure, fundamental principles, institutions and procedures).

The Association Agreement is an agreement that regulates the participation of a third state in a part of the activities of an international organisation. With regard to association with the European Union, the third state does not become a member of the Union (a status it would obtain through an accession process), it will have no economic obligations towards the European Union and, although it will not have any political representation, it will have consulting power.

While in accession agreements the EU negotiates the transposition of the entire EU acquis communautaire - i.e. the 35 chapters of EU law which are binding for the institutions, the EU member states and their citizens and economic operators - in the negotiation of an association agreement, the transposition of the entire acquis is reduced.

The associating third country is not required to fulfil all the obligations of the Member States, but rather to ensure the transposition of a part of European law. Indeed, one of the main legal features of the Association Agreement is the fact that the associating country must ensure the continuous transposition of the EU acquis, which is constantly evolving.

The Association Agreement between the European Union and Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, is divided into the following sections: institutional framework, common for all three States, Country protocols, one per State, regulating aspects related to the specificities of each country, and a section relating to the 25 annexes of the acquis, including the legislation to be transposed into the legal system.

These annexes concern the 4 fundamental freedoms (free movement of goods, persons, services and capital), as well as some horizontal EU policies (competition, consumer protection, electronic communication services, transport, environment, etc.) containing secondary legislation acts (legislative, delegated and implementing acts).

The 25 annexes that will be included in the Association Agreement are listed below.

Annex I - Food safety, veterinary, phytosanitary policy

Annex II - Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification

Annex III - Product liability

Annex IV – Energy

Annex V - Free movement of workers

Annex VI - Social security

Annex VII - Professional qualifications

Annex VIII – Establishment

Annex IX - Financial services

Annex X - Services in general

Annex XI - Electronic communications, audiovisual services, information society

Annex XII - Free movement of capital

Annex XIII – Transport

Annex XIV – Competition

Annex XV – State Aid

Annex XVI – Procurement

Annex XVII - Intellectual property

Annex XVIII - Health and safety at work, labour law and equal treatment for men and women

Annex XIX - Consumer protection

Annex XX – Environment

Annex XXI – Statistics

Annex XXII - Company law

Annex XXIII – Customs

Annex XXIV – Agriculture

Annex XXV – Trade

(this section is being updated)

(this section is being updated)

CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

Ambassador Antonella Benedettini

Head of the Mission of the Republic of San Marino to the European Union

DIRECTORATE OF EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

Director - Luca Brandi, Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary

Giovanni Luca Ghiotti, Counsellor

Lino Zonzini, First Secretary

Luca Ghinelli, Legal Expert

Paola Ghiotti, Legal Expert

Sara Zucchi, Legal Expert

SAN MARINO MISSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Lisa Gualtieri, First Counsellor

Michela Bovi, First Counsellor

ADVISOR

Prof. Roberto Baratta, Legal Advisor of the Government

2023

Technical session 23 May – State Aid (bilateral)

Session of 11 May - Free movement of capital, energy and climate, equal treatment, competition, company law

Session of 19 April - Telecommunications, free movement of capital, health and safety at work, environment and climate, company law

Technical session 14 April – Financial services (bilateral)

Session of 16 March - Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification, environmental protection, telecommunications, recognition of professional qualifications, transport, procurement, environment and climate

Session of 1 February - Free Movement of Workers, Labour Law, Financial Services, Energy, State Aid, Competition

2022

Technical session 13 December – Financial Services (multilateral)

Session of 12 December - Energy, safety at work, labour law, equal treatment, procurement

Session of 21 November - State aid, freedom of establishment

Session of 10 October - Freedom of establishment, (bilateral) competition, consumer protection, free movement of workers

Session of 30 June - Electronic communications, procurement

Technical session 9 June - Consumer protection (multilateral)

Session of 5 May - Freedom of Establishment, State Aid

Session of 10 March - Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification, environment and climate, consumer protection

2021

Session of 9 December - Environment and climate; safety at work, labour law, equal treatment

Session of 26 October - Environment and climate; safety at work, labour law, equal treatment; energy, agriculture

Session of 1 July - Transport (focus on road transport), trade; environment and climate; health and safety at work, labour law, equal treatment for men and women; coordination of social security systems

Session of 18 March - Transport (focus on road transport legislation), intellectual property, coordination of social security systems, technical regulations, standards, testing and certification

2020

Session of 9 December - Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy; transport (with a focus on road transport)

Session of 14 October - Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy, technical regulations, standards, testing and certification, energy; statistics

Session of 30 September - Intellectual Property

Session of 2 July - Product Liability

Session of 29 June - Customs, trade

2019

Session of 9 October - Meeting on the Status of Negotiations (bilateral)

Session of 2-3 July - Institutional framework (multilateral), electronic communications (bilateral), State aid and competition (bilateral), Schengen (bilateral), air transport (bilateral), energy (bilateral), free movement of persons and workers (bilateral), freedom of establishment and to provide services (bilateral), postal services (bilateral)

Session of 3-4 June - Institutional Framework (multilateral), State Aid and Competition (multilateral)

Session of 14-15 May - Electronic communications (bilateral), energy (bilateral), air transport (bilateral), pharmaceutical sector (bilateral), recognition of San Marino residence and stay permits (bilateral), freedom of establishment and to provide services (bilateral), customs (bilateral), state aid and competition (bilateral); free movement of persons and workers (bilateral), postal services (bilateral)

Session of 8-11 April - Institutional framework (multilateral), good governance in the tax area (multilateral), preferential agreements (multilateral), electronic communications (bilateral), energy (bilateral), customs (bilateral), pharmaceutical sector (bilateral), recognition of San Marino residence and stay permits (bilateral), free movement of persons and workers (bilateral)

Session of 4-7 March - Institutional Framework (multilateral and bilateral), State Aid and Competition (multilateral)

Session of 22-24 January - Institutional framework (multilateral), health and safety at work, labour law, equal treatment for men and women (bilateral), state aid and competition (bilateral), transport (bilateral), cooperation outside the four freedoms (multilateral), monopoly with a focus on energy (bilateral)

2018

Session of 26-29 November - Institutional framework, free movement of capital (bilateral), financial services (multilateral and bilateral), State aid and competition (multilateral and bilateral), statistics (multilateral), free movement of workers (bilateral), coordination of social security systems (bilateral), health and safety at work, labour law, equal treatment of men and women (bilateral)

Session of 22-25 October - Institutional framework, consumer protection (multilateral), State aid and competition (bilateral and multilateral), free movement of capital (multilateral), intellectual property (bilateral), electronic communications (bilateral), trade (multilateral), procurement (bilateral), free movement of workers (bilateral), coordination of social security systems (bilateral), health and safety at work, labour law, equal treatment for men and women (bilateral), cooperation outside the four freedoms (multilateral)

Session of 2-5 July - Institutional framework, free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral) and transposition of the acquis, environment (bilateral), social policy (multilateral), cooperation in the fight against fraud (multilateral), state aid and competition (multilateral), free movement of workers (bilateral), coordination of social security systems (bilateral), health and safety at work, labour law, equal treatment for men and women (bilateral)

Session of 14-17 June - Institutional framework, free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral), group for the transposition of the acquis, provision of services (bilateral), transport (multilateral and bilateral), freedom of establishment (bilateral), free movement of capital, fight against fraud, state aid and competition, product liability (multilateral), social policy (multilateral)

Session of 23-26 April - Institutional framework, freedom to provide services (bilateral), free movement of goods (multilateral), freedom of establishment, free movement of capital, professional qualifications, energy

Session of 19-22 March - Institutional framework, free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral), transposition of the EU acquis, free movement of capital, environment, intellectual property, consumer protection, customs, agriculture, cooperation in the fight against fraud

Session of 29-31 January - Institutional framework, free movement of goods, freedom to provide services and transport, right of establishment, free movement of capital, environment

2017

Session of 12-14 December - Free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral) and transposition of the acquis, right of establishment, institutional framework, cooperation

Session of 9-12 October - Free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral) and transposition of the acquis, institutional framework, right of establishment, freedom to provide services (transport)

Session of 11-12 July - Free movement of goods (multilateral and bilateral), institutional framework, free movement of persons, transposition of the EU acquis, freedom to provide services (professional qualifications, posted workers, cross-border services)

Session of 16-18 May - Free movement of goods, freedom to provide services and transport, right of establishment, institutional framework

Session of 21-23 March - Free movement of goods, transposition of the EU acquis, freedom to provide services

Session of 31 January-2 February - Free movement of goods, freedom to provide services, institutional framework

2016

Session of 8-10 November - Free movement of goods, freedom to provide services

Session of 20-23 September - Free movement of goods, institutional framework

Session of 6-8 June - Free movement of goods, institutional framework

Session of 25-28 April - Free movement of goods and relevant EU acquis list, institutional framework

Session of 15-17 March - Free movement of goods, customs union, institutional framework

Session of 1-5 February - Free Movement of Goods and Institutional Framework

2015

Session of 2-3 December - Free movement of goods

Session of 23 October - Institutional framework

Session of 22-23 September - Free movement of goods

Session of 22 June - Institutional framework

Session of 4-5 May - Institutional framework