Shengen, a hot topic
Romanias accession to the Schengen area depends on the Netherlands.
Roxana Vasile, 13.10.2022, 14:00
Romania’s accession to the border-free Schengen area has been a hot topic for years, more exactly since 2011, when the country officially announced its full compliance with the technical conditions required for membership. The decision of accepting a new member is taken by the European Council and the vote must be unanimous.
For over ten years, a number of states have been against Romania’s accession. The Netherlands has been one of them and it currently is the only one that still has reservations. On Wednesday, the PM of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, travelled to Romania to visit the Dutch military who are part of the NATO Battle Group under the French command. Mark Rutte met with President Klaus Iohannis and PM Nicolae Ciuca and winning the foreign official’s support for Romania’s Schengen accession – which has become, in Bucharest, a national objective — was a major topic for debate.
PM Rutte said he was not against Romania’s accession to the border-free area, but — as there was a “but” — this process had to be closely linked to the reform of the justice system and the observance of the rule of law. President Iohannis defined as positive the discussion with Mark Rutte: “Failure is not an option. A failure to achieve this national goal would probably enhance euro-skepticism in Romania. However, this is a hypothetical situation which will not become reality, because we do not prepare for failure, we prepare for victory.”
In turn, PM Nicolae Ciuca talked about the advantages brought by the lifting of internal border checks to the business environment: “This vibrant cooperation at the level of the business sector makes me emphasize the direct benefit that Romania’s accession to Schengen can have for the Dutch economy. By eliminating internal border checks the cost of transporters will be significantly reduced, just like the negative effects of delays for markets and value chains.”
Meanwhile, the head of the European Parliament, Robera Metsola, firmly condemned, in a statement for Radio Romania, the offensive statements made by a MEP in the European Parliament’s plenary last week, when he called Romania the ‘wild west of Europe’. An investigation was launched in this respect. Roberta Metsola said Romania deserves to be accepted as Schengen member because it meets all technical and legal obligations. Next week the European Parliament will vote on a resolution which includes the acceptance of Romania and Bulgaria as members of the Schengen area by the end of this year. (EE)
