The PSD celebrates the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union and sets out its next priorities: implementation of the agreement, financial integration and VAT reform. The party brought together its leadership alongside members, activists and historic protagonists of the europeanist path, claiming the contribution of the reformist left to San Marino’s international opening.
The evening opened with a screening of the signing moment itself. At the heart of the gathering, the party reports, was “the awareness of having helped turn a long-minority choice into a project shared by the country.”
“The PSD expressed its pride in the foresight, consistency and tenacity with which the Sammarinese reformist left supported European integration, even when this prospect met with distrust and opposition.”
The account put forward by the party leadership begins in the 1980s. Observer status at the Council of Europe in 1982 and the start of diplomatic relations with the European Community in 1983, under the government of the left, are recalled as the first steps of a policy founded on the belief that international participation would strengthen San Marino’s autonomy.
The path continued under the governments formed in collaboration with the Christian Democrats, through entry into the Council of Europe in 1988, the Cooperation and Customs Union Agreement of 1991, and accession to the UN in 1992.
“It is in this history that the roots of the PSD lie, a party born in 2005 from the meeting of the socialist and democratic traditions, with European integration among its founding values.”
The party also recalls the letter sent in 2007 to the President of the European Commission, during the centre-left government with foreign affairs entrusted to the PSD, setting out the goal of greater integration, open to the prospect of membership.
Another milestone recalled concerns the involvement of citizens. “The referendum initiative launched in 2010 and the referendum of 20 October 2013 on EU membership were decisive steps in broadening the debate and pushing other political forces to confront the need for greater integration.”
The reflection also touched on relations with Italy and the black list era. The PSD recalls the Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiated from 2001, which came to the brink of signature in 2006, its stalling attributed in the statement to “fears and rearguard resistance within the country.”
In the party’s account, the agreement reached in 2012 between the PSD and the DC on the unilateral exchange of information with Italy provided the political foundation for the legislature that led to San Marino’s removal from the black list and its emergence from the economic and banking crisis.
After the celebration, attention turned to the steps needed to make the opportunities of the Association Agreement operational.
“We must now bring the Agreement to life, carry its benefits into the daily lives of citizens, families and businesses, and make the new opportunities and the strengthening of freedoms tangible.”
Two issues were explicitly singled out: the memorandum between the Central Bank and the Bank of Italy on financial integration and VAT reform.
“In this process, finalising the memorandum between the Central Bank and the Bank of Italy on financial integration remains central. To complete the Agreement, VAT reform must also be addressed, which is necessary to overcome the long-standing T2 problem and make life easier for businesses.”
