ABSTRACT
Relations between the European Union (EU) and Andorra, Monaco and San Marino – the ‘AMS states’ – are, as per the official formula of the Council of the EU, ‘extended but fragmented’. The existing patchwork of agreements reflects a pragmatic approach that has served all parties well in the past. However, it is not sufficient for the integration needs of the AMS states, and it does not sit well with the Union’s own aspiration to establish a coherent set of relations with its Western neighbours. Negotiations on one or several new association agreements started in 2015 and are ongoing. After analysing the current state of EU-AMS relations, this chapter will sketch out the solutions that are being considered for the new association agreement(s). It will also shed light on their linkages to the broader context of relations between the EU and its Western neighbours. In doing so, it will highlight both the common threads that run through all such relations and the idiosyncratic elements that make EU-AMS relations special.
