2-euro coins of Andorra

The microstate of Andorra, nestled in the Pyrenees, was founded as a feudal state as far back as 1278. Until 4 May 1993, Andorra was known as a particular tax haven in Europe, with neither a constitution nor a separation of powers. This changed following a referendum in which Andorra's citizens voted in favour of a democratic constitution. The small enclave is today the only state in which two non-resident foreigners share executive power: twenty-five years after the constitution was adopted, the Bishop of the Spanish diocese of Urgell and the French President jointly govern the tiny nation. The adoption of the constitution transformed Andorra into a parliamentary co-principality, with executive and legislative powers separated. Andorra now has a multi-party system, though to this day only around 28 percent of the population holds voting rights — a consequence of the fact that, of the roughly 78,000 inhabitants, only 28 percent hold Andorran passports. The remainder of the population is made up primarily of Spanish, French and Portuguese nationals.

Andorra has used the euro de facto since its introduction in 2002. From 28 October 2004, the principality entered into negotiations with the European Union on a monetary agreement to obtain the right to mint its own euro coins. After years of back-and-forth between the government in Andorra la Vella and the European Union, Foreign Minister Gilbert Saboya finally signed the instrument of ratification on 23 February 2013, bringing the monetary agreement with the European Commission for Economic and Monetary Affairs into force.