Romania-Bulgaria

On the road to Schengen

Published on 3 May 2011 at 11:14

On 2 May, a further obstacle was removed from the path towards the inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area: "the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee (LIBE) rules that Romania and Bulgaria are ready to join Schengen Area,"reportsRomânia liberă. As a result, the committee will recommend that the European council "should set a date for their inclusion in the border-free area" as soon as possible. However, the Bucharest daily also quotes the author of the draft report examined by LIBE, Carlos Coelho, who points out that MEPs also requested that Sofia provide regular updates "on supplementary measures that will be applied with Turkey and Greece, in one of the EU’s most sensitive border areas".

The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s inclusion in Schengen in early June, while the final decision of the European Council — which will have to be unanimous — is expected in the autumn. Romania will have to secure "the second longest land border" in the EU, notes the Bucharest daily, which reminds its readers that the initial date for the inclusion of the two countries, 1st March 2011, was postponed when Germany and France exercised a veto.

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