Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos and his Andorran counterpart Imma Tor Faus on Monday discussed progress in relations between Andorra and the European Union as they met on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York.

Tor Faus said that she had “thanked [Kombos] for the support of the Cypriot presidency [of the Council of the EU] in the approval of the association agreement at the Council of the EU”, with the council having approved the agreement in July, two and a half years after negotiations concluded.

Kombos had during Cyprus’ six-month term as the holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency spent time attempting to bridge gaps between member states and candidates for association agreements, with the EU having been minded to sign agreements with both Andorra and San Marino at the same time.

However, talks with San Marino had been stalled over a disagreement with Bulgaria, but these gaps were eventually bridged, allowing for agreements with both countries to be approved by the council a little over two weeks after the end of Cyprus’ presidency.

According to the council, the agreement entails “the participation of the two countries to a homogenous extended internal market under equal conditions of competition and respect of the same rules as the rest of the EU”.

It also regulates financial services, with the two countries set to gain “progressive” access to this part of the EU’s internal market, depending on what the council described as “a successful audit of the robustness of the two countries’ regulatory and supervisory frameworks”.

This will also include “a role” for the EU’s authorities in monitoring these frameworks.

EU pledges ‘mutually-beneficial and forward-looking partnership’ with Andorra

Additionally, it said, the agreement will “establish a framework to develop and promote dialogue and cooperation in areas of common interest, such as research and development, education, social policy, the environment, consumer protection, culture, or regional cooperation”.

In July, Irish European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said that the agreement will “pave the way for a stronger, mutually beneficial and forward-looking partnership”.

“The agreement safeguards the EU’s single market and will provide legal certainty, benefit people and secure future prosperity across the region and Europe as a whole,” he added.

It is expected that the agreement with both countries will be formally signed on October 19.

Kombos on Monday said that he and Tor Faus had also discussed the prospect of “further strengthening bilateral relations” between Cyprus and Andorra and “opportunities to further deepen bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest”.

He added that the pair had also spoken on the matter of “cooperation in regional and multilateral fora, as well as cooperation among Europe’s small states”.