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Thank you.

And now I will, ask the signatories to, deliver their remarks,

and we are going to start with Commissioner, Šefčovič. Commissioner, the floor is yours. Thank you very much.

Good, good afternoon and warm welcome to our friends and, and colleagues from,

Andorra and San Marino and of course, to my long-term colleague, Valdis Dombrovskis.

I'm very happy to Be part of this occasion because today is indeed a landmark day for the European Union. In Andorra and San Marino.

By signing this association agreement, we open, we open a new chapter of deeper partnership.

The agreement is a result of many years of close cooperation, patient negotiations, and shared ambition,

and it shows what we can achieve together as like-minded partners, soon to be associated.

Through this ambitious, Association Agreement, Andorra and San Marino will participate in the EU's internal market,

and our cooperation will strengthen across the broad range of policy areas.

The specific characteristics of Andorra and San Marino have been fully taken into account through adaptations and transitional periods for the implementation of parts of the EU acquis.

The agreement, one of the most far-reaching deals offered by the EU to outside partners,

will make a real difference to the people's lives.

It will create new opportunities to study, work and live across Europe,

and it will give businesses greater access to the EU's internal market with the legal certainty of common rules and a level playing field.

The level of market access foreseen will be comparable to that of Norway,

Iceland, Liechtenstein under the agreement of the European Economic Area.

The agreement will also incorporate the existing customs unions and benefit from the monetary agreements with Andorra and San Marino.

At the same time, it establishes a coherent,

effective and efficient institutional framework to protect the integrity of the EU's internal market.

To ensure that citizens and businesses can reap the benefits as soon as possible,

we are committed to completing our internal procedures swiftly. To move towards provisional application.

Today, we are not only signing a legal text, we are sending a political signal.

At a time of geopolitical uncertainty and growing fragmentation,

our answer is not isolation but partnership.

By bringing our economies and societies closer together, this agreement will strengthen our collective resilience.

It will bring greater stability, predictability and opportunity.

So this is not simply an agreement for today, it is an investment in the decades ahead.

Andorra and San Marino are deeply rooted in Europe, and this agreement gives new expression to that reality. Thank you very much. We continue with Commissioner Dombrovskis. Good afternoon, everyone.

It's a pleasure to welcome, Xavier Espot, Prime Minister of Andorra, and Luka Bekavac,

Minister of Foreign Affairs and, Political Affairs of San Marino for this important occasion.

Today's steps marks another important stage for the European Union's close and long-standing relations with both countries.

I am pleased to sign amended monetary agreements alongside with the signature of association agreement by Commissioner.

I would like to thank the teams on all sides for hard work to make these agreements possible today.

Reaching the point has required commitment, professionalism, flexibility, and a strong spirit of partnership.

The amendments consist of technical adaptations that do not change the overall objective of monetary agreements but align their legal architecture with a broader association agreement framework.

This will increase legal certainty,

consistency and coherence between the two frameworks and reflect a major partnership built on sound governance.

In practical terms,

they avoid duplications and help ensure that relevant EU acquis is reflected in a coordinated and orderly manner.

Ultimately, the association and monetary Agreements together will deliver benefits for citizens, businesses, and financial services operators across the EU, Andorra and San Marino by strengthening legal certainty,

enhancing regulatory convergence,

and ensuring more consistent application of the Financial Services regulation and protection and integrity of the euro.

The agreements will facilitate cross-border transactions, support investment and trade, and reduce unnecessary administrative burdens.

This will enable economic operators to plan, invest,

and expand their activities on a more predictable and stable footing while fostering deeper financial and economic integration to the benefit of all three constituencies.

What is more, we can say that monetary agreements have paved the way for the association agreement.

Andorra and San Marino did not start from zero in negotiations from association agreement,

but were already one step ahead thanks to the monetary agreements.

Both countries have transposed parts of the EU legislation such as the banking law and anti-money laundering law under the terms of monetary agreements,

so this helped save time and resources now.

On our side, we are happy to fulfill our mandate by complying with the declaration of Article 8 of the treaty.

The Union will take into account the particular situation of small-sized countries which maintain specific relations of proximity with.

In conclusion, today is an important milestone, but it's also part of a wider trust-based journey.

The European Union remains committed to working closely with Andorra and San Marino in the years ahead.

In an age of uncertainty, such partnerships are more important than ever.

The EU is once again sending a signal we remain open for business with old and new partners alike.

I look forward to the next steps in implementing these agreements for the common benefit. Thank you. Thank you.

And now I give the floor to His Excellency, Xavier Espot.

Thank you very much, Commissioners, ministers, ladies and gentlemen.

Today, as has already been mentioned, the two commissioners, I have already mentioned it.

We are making a massive step forward in a process that started more than 10 years ago.

These years have been marked by a political dialogue, a constant ongoing political dialogue, and in-depth political and technical decisions and sometimes necessary compromises,

but it was first of all marked by a joint will to create this link between the EU and San Marino and Andorra respectively.

This has allowed us to enhance our mutual understanding and boost our mutual trust and confidence, as we have said before,

the association agreements discussions started in 2015 and were completed in 2022 in December,

and then we continue to work on the relevant texts with the participation of the member states. Council and the Commission.

This has been a very long process,

but it has been necessary in order to guarantee that we have absolute legal certainty and political solidity behind all this.

So this is a massive stage in this development,

and this now opens the stage which should lead us to the full blown conclusion of this agreement. For Andorra, this is important.

Successive governments, as well as members within our government had always been committed to putting the final text to a referendum,

and the outcome of the referendum will be considered to be politically binding.

Allow me to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have made a contribution.

To making this possible, politicians, ambassadors, technical experts, negotiators, legal experts, civil servants,

as well as social and economic stakeholders,

and the lead negotiators and our two ambassadors as well.

I believe that due to their rigor and perseverance, their sense of public service, that they have made a massive contribution to this collective success,

which is more than what a single government or a single person can do.

After this signature, this agreement will be put to the vote at the European Parliament,

and that will be important in order to determine the particular point in time as to when we can. Referendum.

Our objective is to organize this in line with our own political democratic agenda and the political agenda here in Europe.

And in the spring of 2027 we are having elections in Andorra.

We don't want to speed up one process to the detriment of the other, and we need to make sure that everything.

That is done is fully understood by our citizens.

At any stage,

the political agenda in Andorra does not impact on the procedures within the EU and San Marino because it is possible to opt for a slightly different timeline and so each individual institutional procedure can run its own course on its own schedule.

As to our relationship with the single market, Mr. Skir has already mentioned this.

What we are planning is the progressive implementation of the relevant acquis, favoring a more predictable economic environment,

and it opens up new perspectives and prospects for both businesses and citizens,

and it is also an essential.

Instrument of the economic diversification boosting our resilience in this constantly evolving international context.

However, the importance of this goes way beyond simple economics.

It is about a political commitment that shows our willingness to come closer to Europe whilst maintaining our own specific features.

Small countries are an integral part of the history, economy, and the political life in Europe.

Despite our differences in size and institutional organization,

we share the same fundamental interests peace, security, predictable rules, open economies.

Democratic institutions, solid democratic institutions, and respect for human rights.

This agreement takes place at a time when Europe is thinking about the best way of boosting its unity,

resilience, and capacity to act. The EU has evolved.

The pressure from the outside keeps growing, and we have a number of new political and strategic priorities,

and we are aligning ourselves with the European ambitions,

respecting the institutional diversity of the European countries, whilst boosting. Resilience, our joint resilience.

We've worked in close cooperation with the EU for more than 3 decades.

It all started with the customs agreement back in 1990,

and then there have been a number of sectoral agreements.

The association agreement today is a massive leap forward in terms of quality. Minister Benali and myself represent.

Small countries with different histories and all that, but we all have the same European vocation, as it were,

and we intend to work in close cooperation with the EU institutions and implement this agreement.

This new stage is going to require progressive integration of And taking on board of the European acquis and we will have to mobilize lots of resources and administrative capabilities in order to arrive at that outcome and we'll have to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the EU and the Member States we are ready to pick up that challenge,

but we would also like and we expect to be able to count on the cooperation of our partners.

Technical assistance, institutional cooperation, interinstitutional cooperation will be particularly appreciated in the coming years.

Two years ago we started negotiating a new relationship with the European Union and today we have an overall framework which brings Andorra and San Marino much closer to the European Union,

much, much closer than ever before.

This agreement is not just the completion of a very lengthy negotiating process,

but it marks the start of a new stage in our political relationship with the European Union characterized by an increased participation in the single market.

Greater shared responsibilities and a new opportunity to show that small countries can be trustworthy,

constructive, and fully committed European partners.

Allow me to conclude by thanking Commissioner Šefčovič, Madame Clara Martinez Alberola and her team.

Minister Luca Beccari and the rotating presidencies of the European Council, the negotiating decision of delegation of the European Union,

as well as all the member states for their support and their commitment.

It is thanks to this collective mobilization that today we are able to make this massive step forward. Thank you. OK. Mr.

Boku, and now I will give the floor to His Excellency, Luka Bekavac. Thank you, good day everyone.

It is a huge pleasure to be here today. It is an honor for me.

This is the conclusion of a long journey as the commissioners and the Prime Minister of Andorra,

has, have already said.

This process started almost 11 years ago and Back then,

it was only beginning to start, it was only beginning to take shape.

And we could barely see the outlines of what we have here today.

But we've always negotiated with the spirit and willingness to arrive at a point where San Marino and Andorra would be more integrated within the single market,

and we were trying to bring together the technical complexity deriving from all that.

And the willingness to have a properly structured, framework, partnership framework, which,

is something that we have now fully achieved on the basis of this agreement, San Marino.

It is a country with a long history, a 1000 year history. It survived history, so to say.

It survived quite a few tumultuous events of the past and nevertheless managed to maintain its independence and its sovereignty without ever Running away from a dialogue with the neighboring countries.

For many years, our neighborhood was mostly represented by Italy and Before the Kingdom of Italy,

other countries as well were close to San Marino.

But then as time went on, the EU was created and started to take shape,

and throughout that process, San Marino never stopped.

Feeling European even though we were still a third country, but we nevertheless wanted to be a part of the European family,

no matter in what guise, but we wanted to be a part of a family.

Where we have shared ideas, values, strategies,

but also the need to defend ourselves from challenges or threats that are characteristic of the present moment in history.

Our history can be traced back to agreements reached long ago and the financial agreement that has been updated today initially was a huge asset for us.

So as Commissioner Dombrovskis has quite rightly pointed out,

we are not starting from scratch because that original agreement was the start of the implementation of rules that are in line with.

European rules whilst at the same time taking account of the specific characteristics of both San Marino and Andorra.

This is a negotiating process that we have gone through together with our friends from Andorra,

and we shared every single stage of this long process.

We had lots of exchanges of ideas and we managed to harmonize in a way or bring together.

And harmonize despite some differences, and we've always been ready to engage in a constructive dialogue and properly interpret the mandate that back in 2015 was received by the European Council,

that is to say in Integrating San Marino and Andorra within the single market and moving up our relationship to a higher level.

Today, this is a milestone that we are witnessing here. We're laying down this milestone. This is not a point of arrival. This is a point of departure.

This opens a new chapter in our relationship.

Certainly we will not stop at this agreement.

We were going, we are going to continue to grow and evolve this relationship.

We have also concluded the negotiating process regarding another agreement, the border management one,

and we are going to continue to work on all those topics that require our attention. Allow me.

Also to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has made this moment possible,

this agreement possible, to begin with, Commissioner Šefčovič.

Under his brilliant guidance and leadership, this negotiating process was moved forward in record time, and we managed to complete the negotiating process which originally had been taking a very long time and moving relatively slowly,

and I would also like to thank all the Commission staff who have worked with us for years.

And who particularly over the recent months had to make an extra effort in order to move things along.

We would also like to thank the political forces within the European Parliament who have always supported this political agreement and obviously the Council,

all the member states.

We've got a well structured relationship with each and every single one of the 27.

Member states and nobody ever has said anything that would indicate that they were opposed to this agreement and obviously we would like to thank our partners and our friends from Andorra who have shared in this important process with us and on behalf of San Marino,

allow me to thank first of all all those who over the years have worked on this agreement,

all the technical experts, civil servants, diplomats.

Who behind the scenes have made the true technical solution possible in order for us to be able to fine tune the test and arrive at the final version,

and I would like to thank everybody who has worked here, the two chief negotiators,

Antonella Benedettini, who has Been involved in most of these negotiations and Mr.

Gasparon, who is the San Marino ambassador at the European Union,

I would also like to thank all my predecessors because 4 different governments of San Marino have been working on this and maintained this continuity,

and I would like the political parties, social partners.

Business associations in San Marino as well, they also gave us their unwavering support throughout this process, and 40 years after the start of a relationship that has always been based on friendship,

mutual trust and confidence, and joint objectives, we are now more than friends,

we are close partners and we are going to continue along these lines. Thank you.

Thank you very much, and I'll open the floor for questions.

If you have any questions, please raise your hand. Luca, please. There's a microphone in the front, yeah. Yes. I'm Marco Salvatore.

I'm a journalist of San Marino EV, the national broadcast TV of the Republic of San Marino. The question is for the Commissioner, Mr. Šefčovič. Mr.

Šefčovič, what will be the first effects for submarino citizens thanks to the Association Agreement,

and what is the political relevance of this agreement for the EU?

Thank you very much, but, first, based on the previous two rounds of applause,

I believe that Xavi and Lukat are definitely better speakers than Valdis and myself.

But I really want to reciprocate the, the warmth and the, the, the gratitude which also clearly flows from, from us, to both of you,

to your teams to chief negotiators because we really accomplished something which was going on already,

I would say for several political generations, so I'm, I'm, I'm very happy that we, that we are at this point.

And coming back to the, to the, to the, to the, to the question, first and foremost, I think if you, if you look at, today's vote, every single day and very often in this very room, we are discussing geoeconomic turbulences, we are, we are discussing, you know, how the, trade policy has changed, how the partnerships, very often based on Decades and decades of friendships are,

are evolving every, every single day, and you probably also, heard me highlighting how important it is to forge also new partnerships, and we've been announcing from this podium,

a lot of new agreements with India, Indonesia, Australia, our South Asian,

Partners and currently the European Union has a free trade agreements which are covering more than half of the global population.

And why I'm starting with this because today we are in the period of history where size matters again.

And therefore I think that the strategic choice.

From San Marino and Andorra to work as closely as possible to be as integrated as possible with the European Union was the right one,

and at that time when it was made, probably they didn't know like timely was the decision taken.

And today I think we are, we are moving to the, to the next stage and therefore,

I think that first the the people of Andorra and San Marino will be the first beneficiaries because they would see the new opportunities,

how they can study, work and live across the Europe.

But I met many times with the business leaders from both Andorra and San Marino,

and I can tell you how they're waiting.

For every minute to pass, so these agreements will go into the provisional applications because they will be getting full access to the EU's internal market, and as you know,

this is the biggest market in the world with legal certainty of common rules and a level playing field and If we compare the the the level of the market access foreseen,

this is clearly fully comparable to that one of Norway,

Iceland and Liechtenstein and the agreement on the European Economic Area.

Thanks to the great cooperation with Valdis Dombrovskis,

and I really want to thank him and his team for for great work because we are also updating the monetary agreements.

We are also incorporating existing customs unions into our cooperation, and maybe the the the the last point I would mention coming to my first remark,

today, the European Union has covered half of the global population by free trade agreements.

And it means that Andorra and San Marino will have the access to this unbelievably global market which the European Union is pushing for and which is so much treasured by our partners with whom we are signing this free trade agreement at an unprecedented pace because they know that if you sign an agreement with the European Union,

that the agreement is fair.

Is mutually advantageous volume of trend growth, investments are coming,

and the businesses are extremely pleased with the results.

So all this from this perspective at this time and at this particular moment,

I believe it was a crucial strategic decision, and I really would like to thank both.

Xavier and Luca for enormous political skills, great negotiations,

because sometimes we really had to find a way how to make it fully compatible with the European legislation and at the same time respect the specificity.

Of countries like San Marino and Andorra, and without,

I would say political ability and diplomatic skills we would never be able to do it.

So again, it's clearly win-win for both,

and I'm very much happy that we can stand in front of you and sign this very important agreement. OK, thank you very much. I can take one last question. Thomas, please. Tomás Garcia Spot Radio Television Andorra. My question is for Mr. Šefčovič.

As you may know, there are people in Andorra that are against this agreement.

In the case of the referendum, if the no wins, there will be an, any possibility to renegotiate,

this agreement with Andorra if Andorra says no to this agreement in the referendum. Thank you.

Look, I, fully trust into the wisdom of the Andorian people, and I know that referendum campaigns are always very, very difficult, and my personal experience with the campaign,

on referendum very often is that the topic which is asked is not, the, the topic which is really being debated in the discussion,

so, we of course fully, fully fully trust,

To the head of the government.

And we will of course very happy to provide all the arguments, all the explanations if they would be necessary and required,

but as I said,

now we are in the situation where we go through a very difficult phase of the global economy.

Also there is a lot of introspection in the European Union how open,

how free, how fair the trade with our.

Partners, so to be honest, after all these efforts and this fantastic agreement which has really taken all the specificities you can imagine of Andorra into place,

I believe that the best decision for the Andorian people would be to become part of a big European family.

We are ready to do all of it, but of course we always respect the will of the people.

Thank you very much. This concludes the signing ceremony. I wish you a nice afternoon.