shutterstock_2094630934 [Shutterstock/Mircea Moira]
EU governments will vote in December to give the club of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen dominance after more than a decade of delay.
In 2011, the factor was voted on by national ministers, but the club was blocked by the Dutch and Finnish governments. Membership of the Schengen passport-free domain requires unanimity.
“The Czech presidency is committed to moving forward to allow Bulgaria and Romania to be fully components of the Schengen area,” Czech European Affairs Minister Mikuláš Bek said at a debate on the issue in the European Parliament on Wednesday (October 5).
“In this regard, we are interacting with Member States to prepare the floor for a substantive discussion on the lifting of internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania. In our effort to achieve unanimity in the Council, the Presidency has facilitated specialist visits to Bulgaria and Romania next week, as indicated by the Commission,” said the Minister.
A transparent majority of MEPs will lift border controls for any of the countries and will vote on a solution on the factor in the plenary consultation on 17-20 October.
Only the organization Identity and Democracy (ID) remains opposed, with Guido Reil of the Alternative für Deutschland party defining Romania as the “Wild West” in the center of Europe, and pointing out the degrees of corruption and organized crime in the countries. .
“We have two EU member states that meet all the situations to sign up for this space. They are in a position for Schengen, but have been waiting for the green light from the Council since 2011. 11 years, no progress. This is simply unacceptable,” said European People’s Party chairman Manfred Weber.
“There is no elegance of first and foremost or no objective reasons to deprive Bulgaria and Romania of this success. They have taken all the steps and allow me to assure our friends in Sofia and Bucharest, they have our support, their position is internal Schengen. “” he added.
Similarly, President S.
“We communicate a lot about solidarity, but it has to apply to everyone. You cannot ask Bulgaria and Romania for solidarity when the European Union is not fulfilling its own commitments. This is the most productive recipe for fuelling discontent with Europe and anti-European populist messages. “
The left supports the measure, seeing it as a current of exchange between freedom of movement and violence against migrants and refugees at the borders.
“I firmly believe in the free movement of all, but I find it very difficult to separate the Schengen enlargement from the violence that runs rampant on Europe’s borders. Spectacular and immediate violence and abuse against refugees seeking to enter Croatia,” he said. Clare Daly on behalf of The Left.
“Bulgaria and Romania make it very difficult to shake off the impression that the EU demands that these countries turn out that they will not prevent anything to prevent migrants from entering as the value of a loose movement. The EU seems to have grown accustomed to rewarding appalling behavior with loose movements,” he said.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]