The European Parliament recommends Romania’s Schengen accession

The European Parliament has reiterated in a resolution that Romania and Bulgaria are ready to be part of the Schengen area

Mihai Pelin, 31.05.2018, 12:58

Romania was first supposed to join the Schengen area in 2011, four years after becoming a member of the European Union, but its accession has been repeatedly postponed due to the opposition of several member states such as The Netherlands, Austria and Germany. The motives cited include failure to fulfil some of the commitments made under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism used by the European Commission to monitor the progress of the judiciary in Romania and put in place when Romania entered the Union in 2007. These commitments have to do with the judiciary and combating corruption and organised crime.

The subject has remained under consideration in Brussels. Following a plenary session, the European Parliament has reiterated in a resolution that Romania and Bulgaria are ready to be part of the Schengen area and has called on the European Council to approve the accession of the two states. In this resolution, which was adopted with 439 yes votes, 157 no votes and 80 abstentions, Euro MPs condemned the reintroduction of checks on the Schengen internal borders due to the shortcomings in the European asylum system and the lack of political will, solidarity and responsibility-sharing.

According to the European Parliament, these controls restrict the freedom of movement among the 26 member states. It argues that member states should consolidate cooperation, solidarity and mutual trust in the functioning of the Schengen area, which is “one of the biggest achievements of the European Union”. In the wake of the terrorist threats faced in recent years, France has temporarily reintroduced border checks, extending them until October for the time being. Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway are also doing border checks, invoking the wave of migration from 2015. The European Commission believes, however, that the situation is now under control and that there is no reason now to authorize such checks.

According to the European Parliament, many of these extensions are neither necessary nor proportionate and are therefore unlawful. “We must bring Schengen back to our citizens”, emphasized rapporteur Carlos Coelho, from the European Peoples Party, calling on member states to comply with all the rules, not just those they want. According to a well-known polling institute, European states have built more than 1,200 kilometers of walls and fences, spending at least 500 million euros in the process. If all states reintroduce border checks on a permanent basis, this would cost between 100 and 230 billion euros in the next 10 years, the European Parliament also warns. The Schengen area guarantees unrestricted movement within a territory made up of 26 European countries, 22 of which are EU members, and home to 400 million people. (translated by Cristina Mateescu)