The European Parliament called on Member States on 18 October (and not on the 20, as erroneously reported by EUROPE), to allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area of free movement, in a resolution adopted by 547 votes to 49 with 43 abstentions.
Considering the Schengen Area to be one of the EU’s greatest successes, MEPs criticised the EU Council’s inability to make a decision on the integration of Romania and Bulgaria, even though these two countries have fulfilled all the necessary conditions for several years, according to a statement.
“Maintaining internal border controls is discriminatory and has serious repercussions on the lives of European citizens, especially mobile workers”, note MEPs. “Obstructing imports, exports and the free movement of goods through cargo ports undermines the functioning of the EU’s internal market,” they add.
The resolution was adopted without amendments. Several amendments had been tabled, notably by the Greens/EFA Group, pointing out, on the basis of NGO reports, violations of respect for fundamental rights at the borders of Bulgaria and Romania, but they were rejected.
The European Parliament had held a debate on the subject during the first plenary in October (see EUROPE 13036/7).
Link to the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/3np (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)