Keeping Romania and Bulgaria Outside Schengen Causes Over 46,000 Tonnes of CO2 Emissions Annually
According to KPM Romania, such a high number of CO2 emissions caused by cars waiting for their documents to be checked translates into a need for more than 311,00 mature trees to remove the waiting CO2 emissions.
The same noted that this is equivalent to more than 56 million kWh of coal-based electricity, stressing that the postponement of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession is increasing the carbon footprint of the European Union, AtoZSerwisPlus.ro reports.
Apart from increasing the carbon footprint, the publication also highlighted that the CO2 emissions are also generating air pollution for communities that live near the border checkpoints, negatively impacting them.
“Each month that passes until Romania and Bulgaria become full members of the Schengen area means additional CO2 emissions of over 3,800 tCO2 into the atmosphere, increasing the carbon footprint of the EU and generating air pollution for the communities living close to the border checkpoints,” a part of the publication reads.
Taking into account the above-mentioned, the publication noted that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area would lead to the elimination of border checks between the two countries and at the border of the two countries with the other member states, translating into shorter travel times.
In addition, the publication stressed that shorter travel times would instantly contribute to the reduction in emissions of CO2 as well as other greenhouse gases between Romania and Bulgaria and the other member states of the EU.
Data provided by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police show that trucks accounted for the highest number of motorised road vehicles crossing the border between Romania and Bulgaria in 2022, with over 981,900 entries and over a million exits.
Trucks were followed by passenger cars, with over 715,100 entries and over 716,500 exits, as well as minibuses and large passenger buses.
It has been estimated that passenger cars have the lowest waiting time at the border between Romania and Bulgaria compared to the other types of vehicles – no less than an average of ten minutes.
On the other hand, the average waiting time for passenger buses varies between 30 and 90 minutes depending on seasonality, while that of buses varies between 30 minutes and 72 hours, with an average of six hours per passing.
The Parliament of the European Union gave the green light for Romania as well as Bulgaria to join Schengen in 2011, but their accession has not been approved yet. Despite that, Romania and Bulgaria expect their Schengen entry bid to be approved this year.
