On 31 January 2023, the first of the six meetings of the initiative 'San Marino towards Europe' was held, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organised by the Mutual Aid Society in cooperation with the Research Centre for International Relations of the University of San Marino. The purpose of this initiative is to inform the citizens about the characteristics and developments of the Association Agreement of San Marino which is currently being negotiated between San Marino, Monaco and Andorra and the European Union.

The first meeting focused on the political aspects of this agreement and was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luca Beccari, and the three former Ministers, Antonella Mularoni, Pasquale Valentini and Nicola Renzi, who were in charge of the negotiations in previous legislatures. The moderator of the meeting was Professor Michele Chiaruzzi of the University of San Marino's Research Centre for International Relations.

The speakers retraced the main steps and decision-making moments of this process aimed at ensuring greater European integration for San Marino. Since the start of the negotiations, San Marino had four governments which shared the same objectives. The shared political intentions, despite the different political affiliations, and the different compositions of the majority coalitions that have led the country, shows how essential and desired this agreement is in order to ensure development and prosperity for the Republic.

The negotiating phases, aimed at concluding the Agreement, have been characterized by technical and political discussions. In the last period, the intensification of political action has allowed for an acceleration of the negotiations and a greater sensitivity of the European Union to take into account the characteristics and specificities of San Marino.

The Association Agreement between the European Union and San Marino is important and, as the Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič stated and emphasised during his official visit to the Republic on 20 January 2023, it represents one of the most comprehensive and wide-ranging agreements given the already existing level of relations.

The Minister also confirmed the desire to conclude the Agreement by the end of 2023, focusing on the Republic's position not only geographically, but also politically, economically, commercially, culturally and socially, i.e. within a Member State and, more generally, within the European Union.

The meeting ended with an invitation to participate in the subsequent scheduled meetings to be held at Palazzo SUMS. The second meeting, which will focus on the legal aspects of the Agreement, will be held on Monday, 20 February 2023 at 8:45 p.m. and the speaker will be Professor Edoardo A. Rossi, Professor of International Law and European Union Law at the University of San Marino.  

San Marino, 2 February 2023