San Marino EU accession bid rejected
Baku, October 22 (AZERTAC). San Marino, a tiny city-state located within the borders of Italy, has today effectively rejected European Union membership, though not without controversy.
The country, which by special arrangement with the Council of Europe, always uses the Euro as its currency, held a referendum today on accession to the European Union (EU), which while passing, technically failed due to a low voter turnout.
Quorum was not met in the vote, which meant that although the “Si” (Yes) side won by 0.56 percent, the “No” side was victorious as not enough San Marino citizens turned out for the vote.
In the result, 50.28 percent said yes to EU membership, while 49.72 percent rejected it, shows the deep division within those interested in the issue within Sanmarinese society.
The quorum was set at 32 percent turnout, while just 20.22 percent voted, meaning the “Yes” side was nearly 4000 votes shy of reaching a legitimate democratic mandate.
The referendum, promoted by a citizens’ committee and supported by parts of the major political parties of the Republic, triggered a polarized debate. Promoters of the referendum put on the table as their main argument the fact that, with the current situation, San Marino bears the consequences of EU legislation but it does not have any voice in shaping it. Moreover, in their campaign, they have been reminding citizens that the referendum only concerns the start of accession negotiations, rather than actual accession. After the negotiations, in which San Marino would ask for some derogations (e.g. on freedom of movement of people), the final accession decision would return back into the hands of the Sammarinese through another referendum.
On the opposite side, promoters of the “no” vote made their voice heard as well. Their main concern was the problematic integration of such a tiny state, which is ten times smaller than the EU’s current smallest state, Malta, into the Union. In reality, they argued, accession would mean that San Marino’s voice would not receive sufficient weight anyway, while at the same time meaning that the Republic would have to open its doors (and its highly developed welfare system) to 500 million people. The “no” side also held that a negative vote does not entail an anti-EU view, but just a call for more convenient methods of cooperation, such as different bilateral agreements on the various issues of concern to San Marino
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