The head of Government of Andorra, Xavier Espot, has signed this Monday in Brussels the association agreement with the European Union, in an event in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Economic Cooperation and Telecommunications of San Marino, Luca Beccari, and the European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic have also participated.
According to the Andorran Executive, the signing represents the official closure of the negotiation of the agreement after more than a decade of work, search for consensus, and institutional commitment, and marks the beginning of the ratification phase.
Espot has emphasized that this Monday culminates a "historic negotiation" and opens a new stage for the next generations of Andorran citizens.
Likewise, he has highlighted that a renewed political relationship with the EU begins, which will involve greater participation in the European internal market, more obligations, and a new opportunity to demonstrate that smaller States can be "reliable, constructive, and committed European partners."
For his part, Sefcovic has emphasized that with the signing not only is a legal text closed, but a political message is also sent: in a scenario of instability and increasing fragmentation, "our response is not isolation, but cooperation."
In the same vein, he has stressed that the agreement will strengthen common resilience, provide greater stability, predictability, and new opportunities, as it is not only an instrument designed for the present but "an investment for the decades to come."
Beccari, for his part, has celebrated having completed the process of rapprochement to Europe with the signing of this agreement, negotiated since 2015 jointly with Andorra, a country with which it shares the condition of a small State within the continent.
Step by step towards ratification
After the signing, the text must first receive the approval of the European Parliament and, subsequently, the Government of Andorra will call a consultative referendum, the result of which will be assumed as politically binding.
Only if the citizens express themselves in favor, the agreement will be raised to the Consell General, where it will need the support of a qualified majority of two-thirds of the consellers generals to be definitively ratified.
Regarding the calendar, Espot has advanced that it will be set based on the timings of the European institutions and the date with the ballot boxes in Andorra, with general elections scheduled for the spring of 2027.
Espot has expressed his recognition of the work carried out over all these years by the political leaders, the technical teams, the experts, the negotiators, the jurists, the professionals of the Administration, and the economic and social agents, and has defined the result achieved as a "collective success" that goes beyond parties, governments, and specific individuals.