Brussels, 11/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Cypriot presidency of the European Union has decided to cancel the formal home affairs ministers' meeting planned for Thursday 20 September in Brussels, due to the absence of subjects and progress made in this field. The decision is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday by member states' ambassadors to the EU. The Cypriot presidency effectively considers that without any progress expected on the Schengen Area, particularly with regard to its expansion to Bulgaria and Romania, the other subjects on the agenda at this Council are not sufficient to warrant a meeting being organised for the 27 different ministers.
On Wednesday, general elections take place in the Netherlands. Ministers for home affairs will have to wait to find out what new government will be chosen in order to be able to discuss the question of Schengen enlargement, explained one European source. The Netherlands has been one of the countries least enthusiastic about the idea of bringing Bulgaria and Romania into the European free movement area.
In March, the European Council decided that the question of Schengen enlargement should be made in September. Nonetheless, recent political developments in Romania have destroyed any chance of the country joining the Schengen Area any time soon, with a subsequent knock-on effect on Bulgaria.
The European source mentioned above added that ministers have also failed to agree on the more general nature of reform of the Schengen area and negotiations with the European Parliament have still not officially begun. Last June, political groups at the EP decided to freeze a series of dossiers linked to the field of Justice and Home Affairs, in response to the decision by ministers to not involve Parliament in the reform of the Schengen evaluation system. The cancellation of this meeting on 20 September could also therefore be seen as, “a response from the Council to Parliament”, continued our source. On other subjects, such as the “Asylum” package, although progress has been made, there is not yet enough subject matter for any decisions to be taken and therefore there is no valid reason for ministers to meet up. Another ministerial meeting has been programmed for 25-26 October. (SP/trans/fl)