The Schengen Area under Discussion

Romanias accession to the Schengen area has become a topical issue on the agenda of the Romanian high officials in their talks with their Western counterparts.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 24.09.2013, 13:15

Romania has again received the confirmation that it meets all the technical conditions to join Europe’s border-free area. The latest to acknowledge the fact was Finland through the voice of its Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, following the meeting he had in Helsinki with his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta. Before presenting his country’s official position, Katainen said the authorities in Helsinki like other European chancelleries would like to look into the European Commission report on the Romanian justice system.

In turn, Prime Minister Ponta underlined that Bucharest was expecting a positive answer on Romania’s Schengen accession that might come at the EU interior and justice ministers’ meeting due in December. According to Ponta, Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession will most likely take place in two stages, the first being the opening of its air borders. The Romanian Prime Minister went on to say that all the standpoints on Romania’s accession also had a deep political motivation influenced by the domestic developments in some community countries. That idea was highlighted by the reaction sparked off among the Romanian diplomats by the reserves expressed by French interior minister Manuel Valls towards Romania’s accession on January 1st 2014.

The commendable way in which the Romanian officials are struggling for the country’s Schengen accession – which has become a top priority on the foreign policy agenda — is not accidental. The constant rejection Romania has been facing in the past two and a half years, be they diplomatic at that, have caused a chain reaction of disappointment in Bucharest, all the more so as this country is known to have met all the technical criteria.

According to Bucharest, the direct link the older EU members have artificially created between Romania’s accession and the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism — is undoubtedly a disadvantage for Romania, whose judiciary is far from being perfect. Some Romanian pundits believe, that Romania’s Schengen accession has been seen as a trophy by all the succeeding governments in Bucharest, which could have been used for political reasons. The country’s Schengen accession could have sweetened the pill for the population and offset the effects of failed reforms in recent years, the economic ones in particular.