European Parliament calls for the admission of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area

A non-binding resolution adopted by the European Parliament calls on the European Council to take a swift and affirmative decision on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania as fully-fledged members of the Schengen area

Daniela Budu, 12.12.2018, 12:55

The European Parliament has voted to approve a new
resolution calling for the immediate admission of Romania and Bulgaria into the
free-movement Schengen Area. The resolution was approved with 514 yes votes,
107 no votes and 38 abstentions. It is based on a report by the Bulgarian MEP
Sergey Stanishev, who has criticised the European Council for not allowing the
accession of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen. He supports the need for the
immediate admission of the two states to the free-movement area, insisting on
full-fledged membership, including all borders, land, sea and air. He says a
partial accession is categorically rejected, as it not only does not have any
legal justification, but it can also have negative economic, social and
political repercussions for the entire European Union.

At present, Romania and
Bulgaria are only partly applying the Schengen Area regulations, and there are
checks on the borders of the two countries. The resolution passed by the
European Parliament emphasizes that maintaining or reintroducing internal
Schengen border controls will undermine citizens’ trust in European
institutions and integration. It recalls that in June 2011, the European
Parliament gave green light to Romania’s and Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen and
has since reiterated its position several times. Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian
MEP and member of the opposition National Liberal Party says the European
Parliament’s resolution is an important moment for Romania because it was
passed with an overwhelming majority, which shows that the country’s place is
in Schengen:

This resolution of the European Parliament
is not a legal document, because from a legislative point of view it’s the EU
Council, that is the member states through their interior ministers, who must
make this decision. We, Parliament, do not play a role in this legislative
process at this stage, but the signal given by Parliament is very important and
puts additional pressure on member states to adopt this decision.

Victor Bostinaru, also an MEP but a member of the ruling Social
Democratic Party, says Romania is still to persuade the EU Council to take the
final decision:

It’s good news and we’ve had it before because a similar
resolution was adopted before Bulgaria took over the EU presidency, at the end
of last year. This new resolution only reaffirms Parliament’s unreserved
support, being in fact passed with an overwhelming majority. Romania should
explore its opportunities, without hesitation, with subtlety but also with
efficiency, so that during our presidency we should be able to move closer to
this objective that we fully deserve to attain.

The final decision belongs to the interior ministers of the 27 EU member
states and must respect the principle of unanimity.