Brussels, 04/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 3 May in Brussels, the Council's “Schengen” workgroup validated the final evaluation of Bulgaria (border management). The country has therefore now fulfilled all the technical criteria required to join the Schengen area, which bestows the right of free movement on its citizens for travelling in this area. “Everything is okay” for Bulgaria, confirmed one source. The Hungarian Presidency is now trying to prepare the conclusions for the Home Affairs Council on 9-10 June. The Presidency is still attempting to obtain a political compromise on Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Schengen area, which was initially planned for March 2011 but which could possibly again clash with the misgivings expressed by certain member states such as France, Germany and the Netherlands, which have so far sought to establish a link with the Commission's more political Common Verification Mechanism (CVM) on cooperation. The Commission is in charge of examining progress in terms of legal reform and the fight against corruption and is no longer in favour of setting out a new accession timetable. The new reflection process that has just begun may not be to the liking of Bulgaria and Romania, even though one French source indicated on Monday 2 May that this did not mean entirely revising Schengen and the two countries' accession to it. The two processes - Schengen revision and enlargement - are not officially linked but neither are they totally unrelated. On Monday 2 May, MEPs from the EP's civil liberties committee gave their support to the two countries joining Schengen because they consider that they are both now ready. Nonetheless, the EP, which will vote again on 7 June in its plenary session, does not have any binding power in this domain. (S.P./transl.fl)