Malta to help San Marino prepare for entry to the Single Market
San Marino began talks to enter the Single Market a decade ago
Malta is set to help San Marino prepare for integration into the EU’s Single Market under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries’ parliaments on Monday.
The agreement will see Malta help San Marino establish best practices in its legislative processes to implement rules in preparation for its planned entry to the Single Market.
San Marino began negotiating an Association Agreement on participation in the Single Market in 2015, alongside Andorra and Monaco.
The MoU is understood to include guidance on scrutinising and transposing EU legislation.
A joint committee made up of representatives from both countries met Monday alongside the signing.
San Marino foreign affairs committee chair Michele Muratori called the agreement a “great day” for his country’s parliament, according to local media reports.
Labour MP Edward Zammit Lewis said such committees were “important because they also engage citizens on the challenges facing the European Union: the rule of law, fundamental rights, and market access for businesses and San Marino citizens”.
Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami said the two countries “can achieve a lot together, because we have so much in common, so much to learn and teach on both sides. I hope this agreement will serve to strengthen collaboration between the two countries."
The Single Market allows for the free movement of goods, services, capital and people between all participating countries. While a hallmark of EU membership, the Single Market also includes non-members Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and Switzerland, which enjoys partial access.
Malta joined the Single Market when it became a member of the EU in 2004.