At least thirty or forty substantial bills already in 2027, on top of the measures tied to the country’s internal needs. Andrea Belluzzi has put forward an initial estimate of the workload awaiting the Council in implementing the association agreement with the European Union. And he warns: current rules are not enough to manage the incoming load.
“I don’t believe the amount of work ahead of us can be tackled under the current provisions of the Council’s rules of procedure,” said the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs and Civil Service during Friday 16 October’s session of the special committee on institutional reforms.
The problem concerns timing, organisation and the tools available to councillors. Belluzzi stressed the need to keep Parliament central, while avoiding a situation where the transposition of European rules absorbs all activity and slows down other work. The first round of adjustments, he explained, will preferably go through bills even in cases where existing delegated powers could be used, precisely in order to ensure broader parliamentary debate.
For the Department of Internal and Institutional Affairs alone, the measures concern public procurement, the establishment of authorities, statistics and the national statistics authority. Extending this to the other departments, the secretary arrived at next year’s estimate: “Considering the ten main delegated areas and the ten departments, we can already estimate at least thirty or forty fairly substantial bills to be addressed in 2027. I’m talking about bills, not decrees.”
This raises the question of the future of the councillor’s mandate. Belluzzi noted that the direction emerging so far does not seem to be turning councillors into full-time parliamentarians. But leaving the organisation unchanged, without adding new tools, risks making it harder to carry out the role.
“From what I have always understood, the direction is not towards professionalising the role of parliamentarian. But we also cannot leave parliamentarians without the tools to fully carry out their role and function.”
One proposal is to create, within the institutional secretariat, a technical advisory service available to councillors and parliamentary groups, with legal and economic expertise. It would help examine measures in depth, request research and clarify doubts before votes.
“Having a neutral advisor that parliamentarians and groups can rely on for in-depth analysis, to ask questions and request research, can also streamline timing and approval processes.”
According to Belluzzi, this support could also help distinguish political disagreements from technical issues. Greater capacity for study would also make the work of committees examining texts in drafting sessions more informed. The stated goal is to pair faster procedures with more solid preparation for those making decisions.
The adjustment also involves the public administration. The heaviest burdens, the secretary reported, fall on the Departments of Territory, Labour and Economy, Institutional Affairs and Foreign Affairs. Specific expertise, human resources and new functions will be needed.
Planned measures include the establishment of authorities for market surveillance, consumer protection and competition guarantee. The regulatory authority for public services and energy, as well as the ICT authority — which Belluzzi considers already largely compliant — will also need to be updated.
This is not simply a matter of setting up liaison offices with Brussels. The new authorities will also hold powers of oversight, regulation and sanction, according to their respective areas of competence. The secretary cited the example of the data protection authority, already operational, to illustrate the weight of such functions within the state’s organisation.
Government offices will also need to monitor European rules while they are being drafted. This is the so-called “ascending phase”: learning about proposals in advance, studying their effects and identifying any potential problems for San Marino. Belluzzi proposed assigning this task to individuals within the various departments, working in coordination with the European Affairs office. Any critical issues could be raised in the joint committees provided for under the agreement.
Regarding work already completed, the secretary reported that preparation of the main legislative drafts for the first phase is nearly finished. Over the past two years, he explained, the administration has analysed the material, distributed tasks among senior officials and identified priorities. The next step now concerns the Council’s capacity to examine the texts.
Training will be another key element. Belluzzi announced that activities dedicated to the agreement would begin on the afternoon of 16 October itself, with an initial programme running through the winter, tailored to the different roles of public employees. He proposed extending this investment to parliamentarians as well.
“I think we should find ways and opportunities to offer parliamentarians not just advisors, but genuine training and in-depth sessions on European language — let’s call it that — on the European way of communicating.”
Alongside support from European Commission officials based in San Marino, the secretary proposed internships for public employees at the embassy and offices in Brussels. He also suggested opportunities for councillors to gain direct familiarity with European institutions, particularly those who will join the joint parliamentary committee.
As for dynamic alignment — that is, the automatic adoption of subsequent amendments to European rules — Belluzzi believes the decision can be postponed. First, he argued, the initial adjustment must be tackled, the administration strengthened and more experience gained.
Finally, annual or six-monthly planning would also prove useful in relations with the EU: demonstrating ongoing work and justifying any requests for extended deadlines on complex measures. Belluzzi asked the committee for guidance on procedures and on the role of councillors: “If we share a common direction and develop things together, it becomes easier to speed up processes and pathways.”
