Yesterday the citizens of San Marino voted on becoming an EU
member state. But is that even possible?
As Brussels braces itself for the inevitable disappointment
of a referendum on EU accession in Iceland, when or if that ever takes place,
it will come as little comfort that another non-EU European country rejected EU
membership yesterday.
The
Republic of
San Marino, the tiny microstate of 33,000 people
situated within
Northern Italy, held a
referendum yesterday
on whether to apply for EU membership. The proposition failed because
not enough people turned out to vote. Though a narrow majority of people who
voted approved the measure (50.3% versus 49.7%), a referendum needs 32% of
eligible voters to vote yes in order for the measure to pass. The 'yes' vote
amounted to just 20%.
Unlike an eventual
Iceland
referendum, the
San Marino
referendum was not a response any actual offer of EU membership. The
question of whether to start accession negotiations with
Brussels was put to voters after a group of
citizens collected the required number of signatures. No matter how the
referendum turned out it was non-binding. It would be up to the
San Marino
government whether to actually request accession negotiations, and it would be
up to EU member states whether to accept that request.
