MEPs Urge EU Member States to End Discrimination and Permit Bulgaria and Romania Join Schengen
In this regard, they stressed that the Council should adopt a new decision regarding Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the Schengen Zone by the end of this year while stressing that this should ensure the lifting of checks of people at all internal borders for these two Balkan countries in early 2023, AtoZSerwisPlus.ro reports.
According to a report provided by the European Parliament in this regard, such a resolution was adopted with a total of 547 votes in favour and 49 votes against, as well as 43 abstaining.
While stressing that the Schengen Zone is among the most significant achievements of the European Union, the MEPs have criticised the European Council’s failure to take a decision in order for Bulgaria and Romania to become officially the newest members of the Schengen Zone.
“Maintaining internal border controls is discriminatory and has a serious impact on the lives of mobile workers and citizens. By obstructing imports, exports, and the free flow of goods from freight ports, they also harm the EU single market,” MEPs pointed out, according to a recent report of the European Parliament.
The accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen Area was discussed by the European Parliament earlier this month during a meeting held in Strasbourg.
“I believe that the repeated resolutions debated and adopted by the European Parliament over the years regarding supporting Romania’s accession to the Schengen area are, in essence, a very good thing. The other European institutions must certainly take them into account,” the PNL/PPE MEP, Gheorghe FALC?, stressed, as reported by Stiripesurse.
Bulgaria and Romania have been waiting for years now to become part of the borderless area of Schengen; however, the process has still not been finalised despite the fact that both countries have met all the technical conditions since 2011.
In August this year, authorities in Bulgaria and Romania urged the EU experts to reassess both territories’ readiness to become part of Schengen, calling on them to take a decision at the leader’s meeting that will be held in December this year.
Previously, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, expressed his support for the Schengen membership for Bulgarian and Romania.
