Joining Schengen Still a Priority
For more than 12 years, Romania and Bulgaria - full members of the EU - continue to be refused Schengen membership
Corina Cristea, 22.09.2023, 14:00
For more than 12 years, Romania and Bulgaria – full members of the EU – continue to be refused Schengen membership, despite fulfilling all the criteria. The citizens of the two countries are the only ones in the European family forced to waste time with border controls. The biggest damages are, however, of an economic nature. This reality was also confirmed by the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who reiterated that keeping the two countries at Schengen’s gate is unfair and unjustified. Postponing the decision on accession several times means limiting the right to freedom of movement and additional costs for their economies. The financial damage for Romania, calculated by independent economists, would be around 200 million euros per month. At the level of the Bucharest government, there is talk of economic losses of up to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product and the idea of requesting reparations is being circulated. At the same time, in Brussels, support for the admission of the two countries working in tandem in this endeavor is openly expressed. In her annual State of the Union speech, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asked Austria to allow the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen without delay. However, this appeal was quickly rejected by Vienna, according to which the current expansion of the free movement area makes no sense. Migration figures are increasing in Europe. We need more checks, not fewer,” said Gerhard Karner, Austria’s interior minister. According to the Austrian government, Romania and Bulgaria could not effectively control their borders, a fact disproved by all statistics, from Bucharest and Brussels alike. Romania and Bulgaria have already become a model displaying best practices both in terms of asylum and return of migrants, emphasized Ursula von der Leyen.
University professor Ştefan Popescu, foreign policy analyst, told us about the statements of the head of the community executive:
They are important as a general political signal. In any case, for years, the representatives of European institutions – we are talking about certain thematic commissioners, but also the president of the European Commission, who is obliged to please everyone, to make a synthesis of the various options in the EU – the messages were all of support, were positive. The problem is with the states, because we give out such messages in vain if we do not also discuss the issue of the decision within the EU. And here is a two-edged problem, because each state has the right of veto. This can be beneficial in the case of Romania, if it were to succeed in the Schengen case, but it can have negative consequences at other levels, when majorities are created that would go against us.
In July, the European Parliament voted a resolution on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria by the end of this year, and Spain, which currently holds the six-monthly presidency of the EU Council, has placed this goal among its priorities. Meanwhile, after 17 continuous years, the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism was lifted. It is a decision that confirms that the rule of law in Romania is consolidated and strong, and this is an additional argument that supports our accession to Schengen, emphasized Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, recalling that many of the objections in the past were precisely related to the independence of the judiciary. Austria’s refusal represents an arbitrary and unjustified decision, the prime minister said, and if Vienna continues to abuse its right of veto on the future Justice and Home Affairs Council panel, Romania will sue Austria in the European Court of Justice. An action of this kind at the Union Court already exists, since February, opened, however, by a member of the European Parliament, Eugen Tomac, a member of the Popular Movement Party:
We found, on December 8, last year, that in the JHA Council a proposal was made, namely that Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia be invited to the Schengen Area, since they meet the criteria. Given that this meeting started with a proposal and two decisions were made – Romania and Bulgaria were refused, and Croatia accepted – we consider that an abuse of law was committed by Austria, which said it did not agree with the extension of the Schengen Area. But, in exactly the same meeting, they voted for the extension of the Schengen Area. Therefore, several articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, including Schengen legislation, were violated. The European Commission, the institution that determines whether or not a state complies with Schengen legislation and meets the conditions, has been saying for 12 years yes, Romania is ready to enter the Schengen Area. The European Parliament voted yes, and passed several resolutions on this subject. Instead, in the European Council, in the Ministry of the Interior, first Holland, and now Austria, are committing an abuse of law, because they do not allow a European state to enjoy the advantages offered by the single European market, the freedom of movement of goods, the freedom of movement of citizens, restricting our legitimate access, bound by treaties, to enjoy the same rights enjoyed by more than 450 million European citizens.
The Austrian veto regarding Schengen is not directed against Romania, but against a defective system, the decision-makers from Vienna continue to claim, and only secure borders on the outside make possible our vision of a Europe without borders on the inside.
