This breaks down as the opening of air and sea borders, by the end of March 2012, and that of land borders starting July 2012. The Dutch representative, Gerd Leers, Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs, said in Brussels that Netherlands is not an enemy of Romania and Bulgaria, but a friend of Europe. He added that, before his country could make a decision on this issue, it would wait for the interim report due in February, as part of the European cooperation and verification mechanism. This report will assess Romania and Bulgaria’s progress in terms of judicial reform and the fight against corruption and crime.

The Netherlands’ isolated position has not been well received in Bucharest, where authorities believe Romania has completed its assignments for Schengen accession. Participants in the European Council of December 8th and the 9th emphasized that all judicial criteria have been met, and urged the Justice and Home Affairs Council to endorse this decision as soon as possible. Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Schengen agreement on June 14th, 1985. Five years later, the Schengen Convention laid down the procedures for abolishing internal borders, as well as compensation measures to strengthen external border controls.

The Polish presidency pleaded, at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on Tuesday, for a decision to be made on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s integration efforts, based on a French-German progressive accession proposal. But given the Dutch inflexibility, Warsaw was forced to refer the issue to the next European Council president, Denmark, whose term in office begins January 1st, 2012.