Brussels, 22/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Another black day for Europe, with Romanian and Bulgarian citizens simply having to grin and bear it. Thanks to the Dutch and Finnish vetoes (see EUROPE 10457), EU home affairs ministers were unable, in Brussels on Thursday 22 September, to approve decisions enlarging the Schengen area to include Romania and Bulgaria.
One single veto is enough to block accession to Schengen as decisions have to be taken unanimously. All the member states except the Netherlands and Finland indicated that they were prepared to accept the compromise from the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which would have made provision for a phased enlargement. This was requested by France and Germany in particular, which did not want to see an immediate and automatic lifting of Romania's and Bulgaria's land border controls. The Presidency suggested opening their air and sea borders from 31 October 2011. Thereafter, a decision would be taken, by 31 July 2012 at the latest, on a date for opening the land borders. “This would mean that we can still say no in 2012”, Belgian Secretary of State for Immigration Melchior Wathelet pointed out. He was not hopeful, however. “The Dutch said no, and that's it, no, end of story”, he opined. “The issue has become political … and the problem is that no future prospects or way out are being offered” to Romania and Bulgaria, he regretted.
“Our position is clear. We do not support accession at the moment”, said Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers. “What we wanted to avoid was deciding today and regretting it later”, he said because, in this area, “there is no going back”. “We need to be certain that the Schengen acquis is fully implemented, in particular with regard to tackling corruption and organised crime”, Leers insisted. “If that is not so, you have a door fitted with the world's best eight locks and behind the door you have someone with a pass key and that poses a serious problem”, he explained.
Finnish Minister Päivi Rasanen said that Romania and Bulgaria had to speed up their efforts to tackle corruption and organised crime. Finland believes that the whole picture has to be considered, not just the technical arrangements. Finland gave an indication that it would be willing to review the situation next year, when the latest Commission progress reports are published on Romania and Bulgaria. It firmly rejects any accusations of populism in this matter.
The problems encountered by Greece in policing its border with Turkey alarmed a number of Schengen member states and explain the reservations.
The Polish Presidency did not hide its disappointment. Because of two member states, it has not been possible to tackle a decision on the enlargement of the Schengen area, commented Jerzy Miller, the Polish minister who chaired the JHA Council. This causes one to draw a sad conclusion of the mutual confidence among member states, he added. Yet, all the conditions for this enlargement of the Schengen area have been met since April 2011. Today the promises contained in the treaties of accession of Romania and Bulgaria have been “broken”. Miller suggested that these were difficult times for the EU. Yet it was in such difficult times that mutual support had to be maintained, and on this occasion, the member states did not have the courage to act together, he opined. He said that Romania and Bulgaria had really put great effort into tackling corruption and crime. The two countries have protected their external borders fully in line with EU rules, Miller went on.
The Polish Presidency hoped for arbitration by heads of state and government at the European Council in mid-October, but the Dutch minister dashed its hopes. “It would make little sense to bring this matter up at the summit, as we fail to see what could change by October”, Leers stated.
MEPs very upset. Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament (EP) slammed the populist attitudes of the Dutch and Finnish governments. “While Romania and Bulgaria meet all the requirements for joining the Schengen area, some states, abusing the rule of unanimity, strengthen further the intergovernmental drift in Europe. It is clear to me that only respect for the rules and the Community method will enable our countries to overcome the current slump”, Daul argued. He expects the European Commission to exercise all its authority to remedy the situation, and the Polish Presidency to use all its political influence to persuade its partners to return to a “communautaire attitude”. “The people of Romania and Bulgaria have made significant efforts to comply with common rules. There is no question of imposing new rules on them or further delay before giving them what is rightfully theirs”, he insisted.
The S&D Group in the EP said that the Finnish and Dutch vetoes were vetoes against the EU. Claude Moraes said it was disappointing to see that the right to free movement, gained legitimately by the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, had become a subject for political bargaining. “Certain governments continue to uphold their electoral interests, which are often populist, to the detriment of the rule of law and of the EU founding principles, said Ioan Enciu.
The view was shared by the Greens/EFA Group: “It is hard to see this veto by Finland and the Netherlands as anything other than cynical populist grandstanding. Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled the conditions required for their member ship of Schengen, going to great lengths to do so, so there is no legitimate reason for refusing their entry to the border-free zone”, commented Judith Sargentini. (LC/transl.rt)