Monaco and the European Union have suspended negotiations to create closer ties because of a disagreement over the principality’s insistence on maintaining priority access for locals to work and housing.
(Bloomberg) — Monaco and the European Union have suspended negotiations to create closer ties because of a disagreement over the principality’s insistence on maintaining priority access for locals to work and housing.
The Monaco government said in a statement on Friday that the two sides had come to a shared conclusion “that it was impossible to reconcile the European Union’s requirements with the red lines set out by” Prince Albert II, whose goals were to “maintain the current living standards — for work and housing — for nationals and residents of the Principality.”
Monaco will continue to back the EU in international affairs, in particular concerning sanctions, it said in the statement.
The suspension of the talks for a so-called association agreement — opened in 2015 and meant to be concluded by the end of the year — came after a meeting Thursday between European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and Monaco Foreign Affairs Minister Isabelle Berro-Amadei.
In a separate statement, the Brussels-based commission insisted on its own red lines for a deal: the free movement of goods, capital, people and services.
The commission said it still hopes to conclude separate association agreements with Andorra and San Marino by the end of 2023.
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