On Wednesday 5 October, MEPs urged the EU Council to accept the entry into the Schengen area of Romania and Bulgaria, which have met all the required EU border management criteria since 2011.
While the member states have hardly discussed the accession of these two countries to the free movement area since 2011, Dutch MEP Sophia in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe) called this attitude a “disgrace” towards the citizens of these two countries.
Supported in a plenary debate on 5 October by Czech Minister for European Affairs Mikuláš Bek, who will try to get a green light from the EU Council this year for both countries, but also for Croatia, and Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás, MEPs also called on the EU Council to take a decision based on objective and non-political elements, while the Netherlands is now described as the country blocking accession for political reasons related to corruption in both countries.
These two countries have been waiting “since 2011; this is totally unacceptable”, commented German MEP Manfred Weber for the EPP group. “Romania and Bulgaria have their place in Schengen, especially at a time when there are security challenges to be met” in connection with the war in Ukraine. “There are no objective reasons” to refuse this accession.
For S&D group chair Iratxe Garcia Perez (Spanish), the EU Council is “discriminating” against the citizens of these two countries, who are forced to take “different lanes”, but it is also creating economic costs for these two states, with long lorry queues at the borders, for example.
In a different vein, Greens/EFA MEP Tineke Strik (Dutch) called on the EU Council to respect the rules and take an objective decision on the issue. However, she noted that Bulgaria and Romania are also accused of pushing back migrants to Turkey or Serbia.
Entering Schengen “also entails obligations”, she reminded these countries.
Clare Daly (The Left, Irish) followed suit, hoping that the two countries would not “follow the example of Croatia”, which is also the subject of “international investigations” into the actions of border guards, by indulging in violence and pushback at the external borders in order to get the green light from Member States.
Fact-finding mission in the field
A field mission to re-assess both countries’ readiness to enter the Schengen area will take place from 9 to 15 October. A dozen experts from Member States will be invited to this mission, but the Netherlands will not be represented, Romanian MEP Rovana Plumb (S&D) told journalists with some surprise in the evening of Tuesday 4 October.
The MEP and her Bulgarian colleague Peter Vitanov (S&D) noted that this situation affects “27 million people” who cannot live like other European citizens.
The lessons of this field mission will then be discussed in the EU Council and the subject should be put on the agenda of the December Home Affairs Council, as requested by Prague. Unanimity is required on this issue.
As far as Croatia is concerned, the Council of the EU needs the opinion of the European Parliament and its Committee on Civil Liberties to go further. The Czech minister called on elected representatives to speed up the process.
The European Parliament will vote again on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in a resolution to be put to the vote in the second October session. The co-legislators also wished to await the results of this appraisal mission. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)