San Marino–European Union relations
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 European Union |
 San Marino |
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Relations between San Marino and the European Union (EU) began in February 1983.
San Marino is not party to the Schengen Agreement, however it has an open border with the EU (although some random police checks are made) and has had a customs union with the EU (since 1991, including agricultural produce since 2002). San Marino and the EU have also concluded an agreement on savings taxation.
Via a monetary agreement, San Marino uses the euro as its sole currency (it previously used the Sammarinese lira, set at par with the Italian lira) and is allowed to mint a limited number of coins itself with their own design.
In November 2012, after the Council of the European Union had called for an evaluation of the EU's relations with the sovereign European microstates of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, which they described as "fragmented", the European Commission published a report outlining options for their further integration into the EU. Unlike Liechtenstein, which is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) via the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Schengen Agreement, relations with these three states are based on a collection of agreements covering specific issues. The report examined four alternatives to the current situation: 1) a Sectoral Approach with separate agreements with each state covering an entire policy area, 2) a comprehensive, multilateral Framework Association Agreement (FAA) with the three states, 3) EEA membership, and 4) EU membership. The Commission argued that the sectoral approach did not address the major issues and was still needlessly complicated, while EU membership was dismissed in the near future because "the EU institutions are currently not adapted to the accession of such small-sized countries." The remaining options, EEA membership and a FAA with the states, were found to be viable and were recommended by the Commission. In response, the Council requested that negotiations with the three microstates on further integration continue, and that a report be prepared by the end of 2013 detailing the implications of the two viable alternatives and recommendations on how to proceed.
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