Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has threatened to take Austria to the EU Court of Justice if it fails to lift its veto on the country’s Schengen accession bid by December.
The Austrian government has blocked the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU’s border-free area over fears of an increase in irregular migration – a blockade Romania is prepared to challenge in the EU court if it is not resolved at the next two meetings of EU interior and justice ministers.
“If Austria votes against Romania’s accession to the Schengen area in December, I will, of course, appeal to the ECJ,” Ciolacu said at a meeting of his Social Democratic Party (PDS) leadership on Monday.
Romania has already threatened legal recourse in this matter on several occasions. Already in June, a senior Romanian MEP stated that such a move could be the only way for the country to join the border-free area.
However, Austria seems unimpressed with Bucharest’s threats.
“We are currently talking about more border controls in Europe, not less,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement, reiterating Austria’s current opposition to Schengen expansion.
Austria has already introduced preliminary controls at its border with Slovenia and Hungary and is currently evaluating introducing controls at the Italian border.
With migration now on the rise and border controls being reintroduced in Europe, expanding Schengen would not make any sense, the Austrian interior ministry told Euractiv. According to Reinhold Lopatka, MP and spokesperson of the governing ÖVP for EU affairs, Austria has thus “factual reasons” for its veto.
“The non-functioning Schengen system with currently several internal border controls in the Schengen area confirms the concerns,” he told Euractiv.
“A legal action is not useful here,” the former leader of the ÖVP added.
It also remains unclear whether legal action would even be successful. Schengen accessions require unanimity, and Austria has justified its veto on the grounds of increased migration and the current non-functioning Schengen system.
Austria’s Interior Ministry also referred to the legal assessment of Walter Obwexer, a law professor at the University of Innsbruck, who stated that “an action for damages against Austria before the ECJ” would be “inadmissible”.
Such a lawsuit would only be admissible against the EU itself, but would have “no chance of success,” Obwexer told APA.
(Oliver Noyan | Euractiv.de)
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Source: euractiv.com
