On Wednesday 29 June, the EU Council asked the European Parliament to give its opinion on the draft Council decision on the full application of the Schengen acquis in Croatia.
This procedural step, which also took place with Bulgaria and Romania, aims to make progress on Croatia’s accession to the free movement area, as the country has met all the criteria.
“Once the Parliament has given its opinion, the decision can be submitted to the EU Council for adoption. The EU Council’s decision must be adopted unanimously by the Member States that already apply all parts of the Schengen acquis, plus Croatia”, the EU Council explained in a statement.
Croatia has applied all the provisions of the Schengen acquis, with the exception of the provisions on the lifting of internal border controls.
The Schengen evaluation of Croatia took place between 2016 and 2020. In October 2019, the Commission found that Croatia had taken the necessary measures to ensure that the conditions for the application of all parts of the Schengen acquis were fulfilled. It closed the action plans for the areas assessed in February 2021. Furthermore, on 9 December 2021, the EU Council approved the conclusions on the fulfilment of the necessary conditions for the full application of the Schengen acquis in Croatia.
Several countries, including the Netherlands, are still opposed to this enlargement of the Schengen area. The Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, however, expressed confidence on 22 June before the European Parliament, betting on a decision on his country’s entry into Schengen “in the autumn” (see EUROPE 12977/9). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)