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| Readdressing Romania’s Schengen Accession 10/02/2011 |
| (2011-02-10) |
| Last updated: 2011-02-11 15:06 EET |
EU member states have decided to declassify the technical assessment reports on Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession and submit them to the European Parliament. Progress made so far by the two countries will be discussed within the Justice and Internal Affairs Council on February 24th. There is more to Schengen than mere technicalities to be met.
Schengen is about trust, says EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Cecilia Malmstrom, who said that trust is something we don’t see at present. The commission supports the efforts of the Hungarian presidency to find a way out of the deadlock, the EU Commissioner added, but a decision on the Schengen enlargement belongs to Schengen member states. Although the Commission doesn’t have a say in this matter, it does provide assistance and support to Romanian and Bulgarian authorities. The EU official further expressed her hopes that a quick and final solution is reached.
In turn, Foreign Minister Teodor Baconshi confidently said all setbacks delaying Romania’s Schengen accession would eventually be overcome. Baconschi feels Romania is ready to join the passport-free travel area and expects Bulgaria to make up for the lost ground. The Romanian official hopes for a political decision before the end of the Hungarian presidency of the EU in June, and expects a deadline to be set for the second half of 2011.
Teodor Baconschi: “We are ready. Following seven assessment reports, Romania has been accepted as eligible to join Schengen. France has also withdrawn its reserves regarding the evaluation reports. Bulgaria must enter a re-assessment process by mid-March. I am hopeful they will do well and that together, we will be back on track. We hope that, by the end of the Hungarian presidency in June, a political decision is taken and a final deadline will be set for the second half of the year.”
Meanwhile, the Netherlands has joined France and Germany in going up against Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession due this March, estimating that the two countries cannot join the Schengen area “at this stage”. At a press conference in Paris, the Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Knapen said he would work on defining a set of accession criteria to be met and designing a roadmap for the two countries’ Schengen accession.
At the end of 2010, France and Germany decided to bring Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession due in March to a standstill. Finland and Norway shared in the opposition while Norway, a non-EU state and member of Schengen expressed its reluctance towards the two countries’ imminent Schengen accession.
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