A non-binding European Parliament resolution adopted on Wednesday calls for Bulgaria and Romania to join the border-free Schengen area by the end of the year, stressing severe side effects for the two countries’ citizens and slamming Austria for blocking their accession without a legitimate reason.
Last December, the Netherlands vetoed Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, while Austria vetoed Sofia and Bucharest. At the time, Vienna argued that the two countries were hotbeds for illegal immigration.
“Romania and Bulgaria do not represent a migratory route towards the rest of the Schengen area”, the European Parliament resolution reads, quoting from the EU border agency Frontex.
Already in 2011, the two countries had “met the conditions necessary for the application of the Schengen acquis [matching the legal framework of the bloc] in all areas,” the text stressed, adding that fact-finding missions in 2022 confirmed their implementation of the Schengen rules and protocols.
However, the resolution also found support among Austrian lawmakers from the EPP group. Overall, EPP MEPs supported the resolution.
“I consider the criticism of the federal government to be completely justified,” Claudia Gamon, MEP and EU spokesperson of the liberal NEOS, told EURACTIV, adding that the veto was “deeply anti-European.”
Referring the case to EU court?
The non-binding resolution also called on the European Commission to examine whether the Austrian veto violates the EU Treaties and potential future actions before the EU court.
“I can only hope that the Commission will take up the matter. After all, such an approach opens Pandora’s box for imitators to make inroads against fundamental European freedoms and principles,” Gamon stated.
In early June, Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac (EPP/PMP) said the only way for Romania to enter the Schengen zone is through proceedings at the EU Court of Justice.
Read more: Romanian MEP says EU Court only way for Romania to enter Schengen
However, besides opposition from Austria, the Netherlands, which recently saw the collapse of its government over migration issues, is also acting as a roadblock.
With Austrian parties starting to campaign ahead of the EU and legislative elections next year, Austria may also be hardening its stance.
Contacted by EURACTIV, the leader of the delegation of the governing centre-right ÖVP, Othmar Karas, preferred not to comment on the resolution.
Eyeing solution by year’s end
The European Parliament is asking the two countries to join the Schengen Area by year’s end.
The European Commission shares the same opinion. Contacted by EURACTIV, an EU Commission spokesperson said for more than 10 years, both countries have met all the necessary conditions to join the Schengen area.
“The Commission has repeatedly stressed that we must open the Schengen area to Bulgaria and Romania. The Commission is confident that a decision for the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania can be taken this year,” the EU spokesperson added.
The ‘side-effects’ for citizens
Moreover, the resolution points out that Austria’s veto has created anti-European sentiment and caused major damage both to the Romanian and Bulgarian economies and to the climate, given the massive pollution at borders where millions of cars wait for hours for checks.
The Association for Clean Energy and Climate Change, led by Răzvan Nicolescu, former minister of energy and former president of the EU Energy Regulatory Authority (ACER), submitted a petition to the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee in March asking for legal intervention in Romania’s Schengen accession process.
The resolution points out that citizens from Bulgaria and Romania are discriminated against because they face delays, bureaucratic difficulties and extra costs when travelling or doing business abroad compared to their counterparts in the Schengen area.
Pointing to waiting times at border crossing points, MEPs note that delays faced by Romanians and Bulgarians can last from a few hours to even days – compared to 10 minutes without internal border controls – which also worsens working conditions for lorry drivers.
In addition to the harm caused to the EU single market by obstructing the free flow of goods between European member states, the text points to the “irreparable damages” to the environment, which do not align with the European Union’s climate neutrality goals.
The health of drivers, customs agents and people living near border crossings is endangered by the increased pollution from the many thousands of vehicles waiting to cross the border each day, as around 46,000 tonnes of CO2 are emitted each year, MEPs say.
The resolution calls on the Commission to estimate the opportunity costs and the environmental damage that Romania and Bulgaria have suffered since June 2011 due to the “unjustified denial” of Schengen membership and encourages them to analyse options for financial compensation.
MEPs noted that the current situation “is instrumentalised by anti-EU propaganda, including Russian propaganda,” and “undermines the EU’s capacity to promote its values and good governance in third countries”.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer, Oliver Noyan | EURACTIV.de, Marco Darius Badea – Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos EURACTIV.com)
Read more with EURACTIV
FM: Kosovo not interested in ‘pseudo-dialogue’
Source: euractiv.com
