Andorra · 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Monetary Agreement between Andorra and the European Union

Andorra is neither a member of the European Union (Europäische Union) nor of the euro area (Euro-Währungsgebiet). Due to its location between France and Spain, the principality had no currency of its own for a long time. In everyday life, the French franc and the Spanish peseta were mainly used. When both currencies were replaced by the euro, Andorra also adopted the common currency. This initially happened unilaterally and without a formal agreement with the EU. Andorra was therefore initially not permitted to mint its own euro circulation coins.

The Monetary Agreement signed in 2011 and entering into force on 1 April 2012 created a legal basis for this. It recognized the euro as Andorra’s official currency and granted the country the right to issue its own euro coins within defined upper limits. In return, Andorra undertook to adopt relevant regulations of the European Union (Europäische Union). These include provisions on banknotes and coins, the protection of the euro against counterfeiting, the combating of money laundering, and parts of banking and financial law.

The agreement did not make Andorra a member of the EU or the euro area (Euro-Währungsgebiet). The principality therefore does not participate in the monetary policy decisions of the European Central Bank (Europäische Zentralbank) in the same way as the euro area countries. In this respect, its status resembles that of other European microstates that use the euro on the basis of special agreements.

The first Andorran euro coins bear the year 2014 and entered circulation at the beginning of 2015. Their issuance gave Andorra the opportunity for the first time to depict national and cultural motifs on regular means of payment of the euro area. The Monetary Agreement is therefore suitable as a coin-issuing occasion because it also constitutes the legal basis for Andorra’s coinage rights. The commemorative issue thus refers to the political and legal framework to which its own existence is owed.