Monaco, an ambitious and generous external policy

Major internal & external projects of Monaco
 

The Principality’s external policy is aimed primarily at promoting Monaco’s image and the role it plays on the international scene, namely:

 

The promotion of Sustainable Development and its funding methods: promotion of investment, research, new technologies concerning the environment, environmentally oriented development cooperation, carbon neutral commitment. The Principality is the depository for the RAMOGE and ACCOBAMS agreements, whose headquarters are established in Monaco.

 

The fight against Poverty: implementation of programmes/projects to promote access to basic public services (education, health, access to water) and the microeconomic development and finalisation of bilateral and multilateral agreements:WHO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, HCR, OIF and UNESCO.

  • Official Development Assistance has increased by 25% every year since 2002 in order to reach 0.7% of the GNI in five years time, in accordance with the wishes of H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince.
  • An active partnership with Monegasque NGOs has been set up with the co-funding of projects (27 projects with 8 Monegasque NGOs in 2009), capacity building and the grouping of associations under the name “Monaco Collectif Humanitaire”, supported by the Government of Monaco.

 

The development of International Relations: widening of the diplomatic and consular network, information and promotion campaigns for Monaco abroad and the development of relations with the European Union;

 

 The development of information exchange in terms of international taxation:

  • Since 2009, the Principality has been committed to the international movement for fiscal transparency.This commitment has resulted in the signing so far of 24 agreements for the exchange of information relating to tax matters and the removal of the Principality of Monaco from the OECD’s grey list.
  • Financial activities are controlled by SICCFIN (Service d’Information et de Contrôle sur les Circuits Financiers) set up in 1994 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. This specialised administrative unit is in general responsible for finding, gathering, processing and circulating information about financial circuits. The Principality has also strengthened ties with the FATF (The Financial Action Task Force).
  • In 2007 Monaco became a member of GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) - set up in 1999 by the Council of Europe – whose purpose is to improve the capacity of its members to combat corruption.

 

Strengthening the positioning of Monaco within International Organisations with the hosting of meetings:IAEA, Council of Europe and more particularly UNESCO with the historic election to the UNESCO Executive Council in October 2009.  With 160 votes out of 178 voters, Monaco received the most votes of all the Electoral Groups put together;

 

Membership of various organisationsto demonstrate to the international community the Principality’s determination to promote the values its defends within the various organisations concerned based on multilateral diplomacy;

 

The promotion of the French-speaking cultural identity:within the International Organisation for the French-speaking world (OIF), Monaco, in addition to its field work – in particular with regard to education and development cooperation – is one of the OIF’s 10 major contributors.

 

Confirmed relations of friendship and cooperation with the French Republicwith the signing, on the one hand, of the agreement relating to the investment guarantee between France and Monaco, which is the logical follow-up to the Monetary Agreement signed between the two countries, and on the other hand, the agreement concerning the Principality’s electric power supply.

 

The Principality is therefore continuing an ambitious policy in all spheres, which alone will confer its importance on the international scene.

 

 

The Monegasque diplomatic network

  • 14 Ambassadors accredited in 26 countriesand representing the Principality within 18 International Organisations
  • 124 Consulates in 73 States

 

 

 

Download the 2009 report concerning the Principality’s external policy

 

 

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