View source for Co-princes of Andorra

{{Short description|Joint heads of state of Andorra}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox monarchy
| royal_title = Co-Princes
| realm = Andorra
| native_name = {{native name|ca|Coprínceps d'Andorra}}
| coatofarms = Coat of Arms of High Authorities of Andorra.svg
| coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of High Authorities of Andorra
| type = Excellency
| image = File:JLSerranoP.jpg
| incumbent = [[Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat]]
| incumbentsince = 31 May 2025
| image2 = [[File:Emmanuel Macron - June 2025 (3x4 cropped).jpg|190px]]
| incumbent2 = [[Emmanuel Macron]]
| incumbent2since = 14 May 2017
| style = [[Excellency|His Excellency]]
| first_monarch = [[Pere d'Urtx]]<br/>[[Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix|Roger-Bernard III]]
| formation = {{Start date and age|1278}}
| residence = [[La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral]] (Spain)<br>[[Élysée Palace]] (France)
| appointer = The [[Pope]] (for the Episcopal Co-Prince)<br/>French citizens (five years, renewable once consecutively) (for the French Co-Prince)
}}

{{Politics of Andorra|executive}}

The '''co-princes of Andorra''' are jointly the [[heads of state]] ({{langx|ca|cap d'estat}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andorramania.com/constit_gb.htm|title=The constitution of the Principality of Andorra|website=andorramania.com}}</ref> of the [[Andorra|Principality of Andorra]], a landlocked [[microstate]] lying in the [[Pyrenees]] between [[France]] and [[Spain]].

Founded in 1278 by a treaty between the [[bishop of Urgell]] and the [[count of Foix]], this unique [[diarch]]ical [[Condominium (international law)|arrangement]] has persisted through the [[Middle Ages]] to the present. Following the transfer of the count of Foix's claims to the [[Crown of France]] and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic, the current arrangement has the bishop of Urgell ([[Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat]]) serving as the episcopal co-prince and the [[president of France]] ([[Emmanuel Macron]]) as the lay co-prince. Each co-prince appoints a [[List of Representatives of the Co-Princes of Andorra|personal representative]]. The episcopal co-prince is currently represented by [[Eduard Ibáñez]] and the lay co-prince by [[Patrice Faure]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Eduard Ibáñez és el nou representant del Copríncep episcopal |url=https://www.diariandorra.ad/nacional/231128/eduard-ibanez-nou-representant-del-coprincep-episcopal_133512.html |access-date=12 March 2025 |work=Diari d'Andorra |date=28 November 2023 |language=ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Patrice Faure és nomenat representant personal del Copríncep francès |url=https://www.diariandorra.ad/nacional/241120/patrice-faure-nomenat-representant-personal-coprincep-frances_162226.html |access-date=12 March 2025 |work=Diari d'Andorra |date=20 November 2024 |language=ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Eduard Ibáñez, nou Representant personal del Copríncep d’Andorra |url=https://www.catalunyareligio.cat/ca/eduard-ibanez-nou-representant-personal-coprincep |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=Catalunya Religió |date=27 November 2023 |language=ca}}</ref>

==History==

=== Origin and development of the co-principality ===
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2015}}
Tradition holds that [[Charlemagne]] granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for their fighting against the [[Moors]]. The [[feudal]] overlord of this territory was at first the [[count of Urgell]]. In 988, however, the count, [[Borrell II]], gave Andorra to the [[Diocese of Urgell]] in exchange for land in [[Cerdanya]].<ref name="histo1">{{Cite GREC|andorra-0#anchor_-la-formaci-d-andorra|title=La formació d'Andorra}}</ref> The bishop of Urgell, based in [[la Seu d'Urgell|Seu d'Urgell]], has ruled Andorra ever since.<ref name="elements">{{Cite web |title=Elements de la Història Del Principat D'andorra |language=ca |url=http://www.coprince-fr.ad/catala/elements.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100209181327/http://www.coprince-fr.ad/catala/elements.htm |archive-date=9 February 2010 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=www.coprince-fr.ad}}</ref>

Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection, and since the bishop of Urgell knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys,<ref name=elements/> he asked for help from the [[lord of Caboet]]. In 1095, the lord and the bishop signed a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellbò, and both became viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya. Their daughter, [[Ermessenda de Castellbò|Ermessenda]],<ref>{{Cite GREC|ermessenda-de-castellbo|title=Ermessenda de Castellbò}}</ref> married [[Roger-Bernard II, Count of Foix|Roger Bernat II]], the [[France|French]] [[count of Foix]]. They became, respectively, Count and Countess of Foix, Viscount and Viscountess of Castellbò and Cerdanya, and also co-sovereigns of Andorra (together with the bishop of Urgell).{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In the 11th century, a dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix. The conflict was mediated by [[Aragon]] in 1278, and led to the signing of the first [[Paréage of Andorra 1278|paréage]], which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count<ref name=elements/> and the bishop. This gave the [[principality]] its territory and political form, and marked the formal commencement of Andorra's unique diarchical arrangement.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Through inheritance, the Foix title to Andorra passed to the [[kings of Navarre]]. After Henry III of Navarre was crowned [[Henry IV of France]], he issued an edict in 1607 establishing the [[king of France]] and the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra. In 1812–13, the [[First French Empire]] under [[Napoleon]] annexed [[Catalonia]] and divided it into four [[département]]s, with Andorra forming part of the district of [[Puigcerdà]] (department of [[Sègre (department)|Sègre]]). Following the defeat of Napoleon, a royal decree reversed this annexation, and Andorra reverted to its former independence and political state.{{sfn|Armengol Aleix|2009|p = 172}}{{sfn|Guillamet Anton|2009|p = 172}}{{sfn|Armengol Aleix|2009|pp = 342, 343}} The [[List of heads of state of France|French head of state]]&mdash;whether king, emperor, or president&mdash;has continued to serve as a co-prince of Andorra ever since.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

=== 20th century ===
On 12 July 1934, Andorra's monarchical system was challenged by an adventurer named [[Boris Skossyreff]], who issued a proclamation in Urgell declaring himself "Boris I, King of Andorra".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brodney |first=Spencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aq_PAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Boris%22+%22King+of+Andorra%22 |title=Events |date=1938 |publisher=Events publishing Company |language=en |issue=Issues 19–24, p. 46, 1938}}</ref>  Though initially enjoying some support within Andorra's political establishment, he was ultimately arrested by Spanish authorities on 20 July 1934 after declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell (who had refused to relinquish his own claim to the principality).  Skossyreff was expelled, and was never considered to have been the Andorran monarch in any legal sense.

Before 1993, Andorra had [[Uncodified constitution|no codified constitution]], and the exact prerogatives of the co-princes were not specifically defined in law. In March 1993, a [[Constitution of Andorra|Constitution]] was approved by a vote of the Andorran people and signed into law by the two reigning co-princes at the time, Bishop [[Joan Martí Alanis]] and President [[François Mitterrand]]. It clarified the continuance of the unique Andorran diarchy, and also delineated the precise role and prerogatives of the two co-princes. Prior to adoption of the Constitution, Andorra paid in odd-numbered years a [[tribute]] of approximately $460 to the French ruler, while in even-numbered years, it paid a tribute of approximately $12 to the Spanish bishop, plus six [[ham]]s, six cheeses, and six live chickens. This medieval custom was subsequently abandoned in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Septicentennial for a Ministate – ''Time'' |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912223,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205190037/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912223,00.html |archive-date=2008-12-05 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=www.time.com}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
In 2009, French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] threatened to abdicate as French co-prince if the principality did not change its banking laws to eliminate its longstanding status as a [[tax haven]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-03-27 |title=Sarkozy threatens to renounce Andorra title |url=https://euobserver.com/green-economy/are0ec9303 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=EUobserver |language=en}}</ref> The [[European Union]] also applied pressure to bring its tax laws into alignment with its taxation norms, and from 2013 to 2016 [[Taxation in Andorra|Andorra made reforms]], including a personal income tax, a general indirect tax, and an end to its banking secrecy policies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-02 |title=Andorra bows to EU pressure to introduce income tax |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/andorra/10094209/Andorra-bows-to-EU-pressure-to-introduce-income-tax.html |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=France-Presse |first=Agence |date=2016-12-02 |title=Andorra to renounce banking secrecy as it sheds tax haven status |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/02/andorra-to-renounce-banking-secrecy-as-it-sheds-tax-haven-status |access-date=2025-06-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In 2014, [[Joan Enric Vives i Sicília]] said that he would abdicate as bishop of Urgell and co-prince of Andorra if the Andorran Parliament passed a law legalizing abortion. The bishopric would then be held in [[abeyance]] at least until the law had been promulgated, so that no cleric would have to sign it.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Jesús Bastante |date=22 September 2014 |title=La aprobación de la ley del Aborto en Andorra podría llevar a Vives a Barcelona |trans-title=The approval of the Abortion law in Andorra could bring Vives to Barcelona |url=https://www.periodistadigital.com/cultura/religion/espana/20140922/aprobacion-ley-aborto-andorra-llevar-vives-barcelona-noticia-689401696469/ |access-date=3 January 2023 |work=Periodisto Digital |department=Religión |language=es}}</ref> This would make Andorra the second country ([[Baudouin of Belgium#Religion|after Belgium]]) where a head of state refused to sign a law legalizing abortion without preventing the law's promulgation. The legislative standoff was substantially de-escalated in 2018 when [[Pope Francis]] affirmed that Vives would need to abdicate if the law was passed, and [[Abortion in Andorra|abortion remains illegal in Andorra]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Poy |first=Ricard |date=2018-11-05 |title=El Vaticà avisa que l'avortament faria abdicar el Copríncep |url=https://www.diariandorra.ad/nacional/181105/el-vatica-avisa-que-avortament-faria-abdicar-coprincep_35276.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Diari d'Andorra |language=ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Coppen |first=Luke |title=Pope names next prince-bishop of Andorra |url=https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/pope-names-next-prince-bishop-of |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=www.pillarcatholic.com |language=en}}</ref> Activism has continued to try to change that.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-16 |title=Six months of wins for human rights |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/impact/2024/07/six-months-of-wins-for-human-rights/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}</ref>

==Contemporary political role==

The [[Constitution of Andorra]] carefully defines the exact role and prerogatives of the co-princes of Andorra today. The constitution establishes Andorra as a "parliamentary coprincipality",<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 1:4.</ref> providing for the bishop of Urgell and the president of France to serve together as joint heads of state.<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 43:1–2.</ref> The constitution distinguishes between which powers they may exercise on their own (Article 46), and which require the countersignature of the head of the Andorran government, or the approval of the "Síndic General", the presiding officer of the Andorran legislature (Article 45).

Powers the co-princes may exercise on their own include:<ref>Constitution of Andorra, Article 46.</ref>
*Joint exercise of the "prerogative of grace" (the power to pardon);
*Each co-prince may appoint one member of the Superior Council of Justice and one member of the Constitutional Tribunal;
*Establishment of such services as they deem necessary to fulfil their constitutional prerogatives, and appointment of individuals to fulfil these services;
*Requesting a preliminary judgement about the constitutionality of proposed laws, or of international treaties;
*Agreeing to the text of any international treaty, prior to submitting it for parliamentary approval;
*Bringing a case before the Constitutional Tribunal in the event of any conflict over the exercise of their constitutional prerogatives.

Powers the co-princes may exercise in conjunction with the head of government include:<ref>Constitution of Andorra, Article 45.</ref>
*Calling for elections or referendums in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Appointing the head of government in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Dissolve the General Council (the Andorran legislature) prior to the expiration of its current term (but not until at least one year has passed since the prior election);<ref>Constitution of Andorra:45:1:E and 71:1–3.</ref>
*Accrediting diplomatic representatives from Andorra to foreign states, and receive credentials of foreign representatives to Andorra;<ref group=lower-alpha>This implies that the [[letters of credence]] of ambassadors of France to Andorra or vice-versa are signed twice by the French president: once as sender and once as recipient.</ref>
*Appointing office-holders in accordance with appropriate constitutional provisions;
*Sanctioning and enacting laws in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Granting formal consent to international treaties, once ratified by the General Council.

Each co-prince is granted an annual allowance by the General Council to dispose of as he or she sees fit.<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 47.</ref>  Each appoints a personal representative in Andorra,<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 48.</ref> and in the case of incapacitation of one of them, the constitution provides for the other prince to govern in his or her absence, with the concurrence of the Andorran head of government or the General Council.<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 45:3.</ref>

Certain treaties require the participation of the co-princes (or their designated representatives) in their negotiation process as well as their final approval; these are detailed in Articles 66 and 67 of the constitution.

The co-princes jointly retain the right to propose amendments to the constitution; this same right rests with the General Council.<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 105.</ref> They have no veto power over legislation passed by the General Council, though they do retain a veto over certain international treaties, as described above.

== Vacancy ==
In case of vacancy of either co-prince, Andorra "recognizes the validity of the interim procedures foreseen by their respective statuses, in order for the normal function of Andorran institutions not to be interrupted".<ref>Constitution of Andorra, 49.</ref>

==List of rulers==

{{Main|List of co-princes of Andorra}}

==See also==
*[[List of heads of government of Andorra]]
*[[Prince-bishop]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

*{{cite book
 |last       = Armengol Aleix
 |first      = E.
 |title      = Andorra: un profund i llarg viatge
 |language   = ca
 |date       = 2009
 |publisher  = Government of Andorra
 |location   = Andorra
 |isbn       = 9789992005491
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last       = Guillamet Anton
 |first      = J.
 |title      = Andorra: nova aproximació a la història d'Andorra
 |language   = ca
 |date       = 2009
 |publisher  = Revista Altaïr
 |location   = Andorra
 |isbn       = 9788493622046
 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.coprince-fr.ad Representació de S.E. El Copríncep Francés]
*[http://www.bisbaturgell.org/ El Copríncep d'Urgell]
*[http://www.rulers.org/rula2.html#andorra Rulers.org – Andorra] list of rulers for Andorra

{{Andorra topics}}
{{Monarchies}}
{{Europe heads of state and government}}

{{Portal bar|Andorra|France|Monarchy|Spain}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Co-Princes Of Andorra}}
[[Category:Lists of nobility of Andorra|Co-Princes]]
[[Category:Princes of Andorra| ]]
[[Category:Counts of Foix| ]]
[[Category:Lists of princes|Andorra]]
[[Category:Andorra–France relations]]
[[Category:Religion and politics]]

[[war:Mga Igkasi-Prinsipe han Andorra]]