"The text compares, with clarity of style and analytical rigor, the essential aspects that structure the association agreements between the European Union and the associated states of Eastern and Western Europe." This is how Michele Chiaruzzi, director of the Research Center for International Relations (CRRI) at the University of the Republic of San Marino, describes the new Quaderno published on the university website. Maria Giacomini, a fellow at the Research Center for International Relations and a member of its Technical Committee, is the author of this in-depth study, which is part of the series of annual publications launched by the Center in 2018, called Quaderni CRRI.
The research, explains the author, "aims to provide a simplified representation of the process of association with the European Union." "The text," comments the Center's director, "is therefore able to offer, perhaps for the first time in San Marino, a clear and basic overview of the fundamental characteristics of the association process that has also involved our Republic for seven years. Without knowing these fundamental characteristics," the academic continues, "it is impossible to understand the specifics of San Marino's journey, nor to comprehend its dynamics and development, nor even its realistic prospects."
Particular attention is paid to the "alternative to accession" association path, which represents the reference type of agreement for the Republic of San Marino as an "associating" state to the European Union. These agreements are analyzed from a comparative perspective: Switzerland's European integration process (from sectoral agreements to the draft Institutional Framework Agreement); the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) between Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway; the EU's relations with its Eastern European neighbors (Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova); and finally, the post-Brexit Agreement with the United Kingdom.
"The text is being released while the war in Ukraine rages in Europe," Chiaruzzi concludes. "When a state associated with the European Union, attacked and dismembered by a great power, nevertheless asserts its European path as an indispensable reality and a crucial prospect, then the importance of that path becomes, once again but with the utmost urgency, an existential choice for everyone." The Notebook can be downloaded at wwww.unirsm.sm/crriby visiting the CRRI Notebooks page which can be accessed from the “publications” section.
