Andorra la VellaThe head of government, Xavier Spotwas the protagonist of the current affairs call of the program Avui Serà Un Bon Dia, where he spoke about his recent meeting in Brussels with the executive vice-president of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, to deal with the state of progress of the aspects related to the Association Agreement. according to spotthe deadlines initially planned for the completion of the legal review of the text of the agreement will have to be extended, which will also affect the date of the consultation to be held in Andorra.
“What happens is that you can schedule based on the information we have, but that information can change,” he said spot on the call “We must remember that we cannot hold the consultation if we do not have the final text that must be voted on. The European Commission said yesterday that until March they will not determine whether the agreement has a mixed legal nature or not Until this is clarified, I cannot ask the citizens to speak,” added the head of government.
spot he stressed that, although a shorter timetable has been considered, “an agreement of this size, unique within the internal market, requires the right amount of time”. He also explained that the vice president Šefčovič he was cautious and did not advance any date for the conclusion of the Agreement process, which will not take place until the EU Council’s review is finalized and validated by the Commission. In addition, the 27 member states of the European Union must also determine the legal nature of the Agreement (mixed or not). He also recalled that the consultation can only be organized on the basis of a definitive text.
This delay in no way affects the clear will of this Government to submit the Association Agreement project to a popular consultation, which will be politically binding and allow the Andorrans to decide whether or not they want this agreement”
Gabriel Fernandeztaken from the program, emphasized that with the current information, “it is likely that the consultation will not be held before a year”. spot confirmed this forecast but indicated that, “if all goes well and the European Commission decides in March, we should start an explanation campaign for six months, which could place the consultation in the autumn or the end of the year” . However, he added that he does not want to excessively schedule this process given the complexity and circumstances of the moment.