---
title: "San Marino Trades Rome’s Discretion for Brussels’ Rules"
type: commentary
locale: en
url: https://liminalfutures.com/commentaries/san-marino-eu-association-agreement
date: "2026-10-19"
canonical_url: "https://liminalfutures.substack.com/p/san-marino-eu-association-agreement"
summary: "The last city-state of the peninsula survives through the friendship of stronger powers, and its newest agreement will test its administration."
---

# San Marino Trades Rome’s Discretion for Brussels’ Rules

Type: commentary
Date: 2026-10-19
People: Gabriele Pizzi
Organizations: Liminal

## Summary

The last city-state of the peninsula survives through the friendship of stronger powers, and its newest agreement will test its administration.

## Work

Published 19 October 2026. The essay reads San Marino's Association Agreement with the European Union as a case of territorial statecraft: a small state that has always survived by choosing its protectors, now swapping Italy's discretionary friendship for Brussels' rule-based one, and the administrative test that follows. Read on Substack.

## Sources

- substack: [https://liminalfutures.substack.com/p/san-marino-eu-association-agreement](https://liminalfutures.substack.com/p/san-marino-eu-association-agreement)

## Related

- Authored by [Gabriele Pizzi](/people/gabriele-pizzi)
- Published by [Liminal](/organizations/liminal)