Nonetheless, the deal is “one of the most far-reaching offered by the EU to outside partners,” Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said on Tuesday.
He admitted that talks over the finance elements were not “an easy chapter.” The two countries’ access will depend on future audits of their national supervision of the sector. The EU’s financial supervisors will “play a central role in the auditing process,” the Commission said.
The two countries’ access to the single market for financial services was dropped from the agreement after Europe’s top regulators warned it could open the backdoor to illegal money and make it easier for predatory financial firms to target people in the EU.
The bloc’s governments accused the Commission of a lack of transparency during the negotiations, with some countries pushing for finance to be fully dropped from the text.
Instead, under the “staggered approach,” Andorra and San Marino “may decide not to seek access to the entire EU internal market for financial services” for up to 15 years after the agreement enters into force, the text says.
The deal has been in negotiations since 2015, and originally also included Monaco, which dropped out of talks last year.