Morganti: “Europe changes negotiator, but San Marino risks taking the wrong path”
“The relationship between Europe and San Marino, which has been languishing for seven long years, is undergoing a turning point. positive? negative? Difficult to say as a whole “.
Thus begins the reflection of Giuseppe Maria Morganti (Libera), who continues: “Certainly positive as regards the change of negotiator: in fact, Maroš Šefčovič will be the new delegate for relations with San Marino, Monaco and Andorra with the task of negotiating theassociation agreement. Šefčovič, one of the 8 vice presidents of the Commission, has a vision linked to the social and cultural values that have made the European Union great, a figure who does not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the mere economism that has generated so much damage to the credibility of the great project of our continent. Democratic and leftist ideals can reinterpret the relationship with its Small States and especially with San Marino, raising the relationship to a dimension of cultural politics, a laboratory of democracy and a promoter of new freedoms. This is therefore the novelty that could bring the relationship between San Marino and the EU out of the swamp, still blocked by purely economic elements such as guarantees for access to the banking and financial market, free establishment of people and companies, European the exceeding of T2 on import / export. However, the opportunity of the new delegation seems to be compromised by the change of course that the three Small States have adopted in recent days. The surprise announcement is that of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who stated that the three states have asked to reverse the order of the issues under discussion to give the negotiation “a more specific outline” starting from integration into the single market for financial instruments, and the dimension of the principle of free movement of workers and free establishment of companies. A move certainly in contrast with the characteristics expressed by the new negotiator and which reinforces the idea that San Marino’s interest in Europe is only that linked to the exploitation of its market. It is certainly important that after the debacle suffered by San Marino with the Monetary Convention, which imposed the adaptation of the financial structure to sustainable rules for a small state, there is now at least the possibility of having companies operate in the European area. But I recommend the new decision taken by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, without any prior confrontation with the Council or at least with the Council Foreign Affairs Commission, delegated by the Council itself to follow the negotiation step by step, is at least risky and risks saying the important objectives such as that of access to European funding programs that are increasingly essential to overcome the criticisms of planning the current large entities and to plan the large ones that will concern telecommunications, energy, education and health. The countries around us have already walked this path, the Republic of San Marino, due to the continuous wrong choices, risks being left heavily behind, politically and culturally in isolation. Once again, let’s not make the mistake of staying on the sidelines given that the political foresight that prevented a decisive step towards membership has excluded us from the European political context, an area in which it could say and achieve a lot ”.