Bulgaria and Romania’s access to the Schengen may be a talking point during the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) meeting in October, the Spanish ambassador to Romania said during a press conference on Monday.
The Schengen area must function “respecting its original spirit, i.e. without internal controls”, said on the Spanish ambassador in Romania, Jose Antonio Hernandez Perez-Solorzano, during a press conference Monday.
The diplomat also referred to the temporary controls introduced by some member states within the Schengen area.
In May, the European Commission threatened Austria with legal action over expanded Schengen border controls and launched a formal consultation procedure with all EU states involved.
Reiterating Spain’s support for Schengen expansion, the ambassador stated, “this matter is likely to be on the agenda for the JHA Council meeting in October”. However, “October is not a deadline”.
The dialogue needs to be intensified “to reach a consensus by this date”, the Spanish ambassador said.
European institutions are preparing to admit Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen this year, with visa-free travel by air expected in October, followed by the abolition of land border controls by 1 January, diplomatic sources in Brussels and the Bulgarian parliament and government told EURACTIV.
“Romania has fulfilled all the criteria required for the accession process”, Romania’s Foreign Ministry Luminita Odobescu said, adding that Romania is working with the Spanish EU presidency, having already discussed in detail both with the ambassador and with her counterpart and other ministers “how to progress with this essential file in the coming months”.
Romania is involved at the European level in efforts to combat illegal migration, though – as Odobescu clarified – there is no connection between migration and Schengen. She mentioned the pilot project conducted by the Romanian Interior Ministry and the European Commission.
Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her hope that the ongoing pilot projects in Bulgaria and Romania at the border with Serbia would also serve as a model of good practices for other external borders.
The European leaders failed to resolve a bitter dispute on reform of the bloc’s migration rules after Poland and Hungary refused to back down in their standoff with the 25 other EU leaders.
Regarding the dialogue with Austria, who voted against Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, the Romanian minister mentioned an action plan to prove “what is actually very clear, that Romania is a credible partner, a supplier of security and an active partner in the protection of the external borders of the European Union”.
In an interview with EURACTIV earlier this month, social democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he would launch an extended plan in the coming months to get Austria to remove its veto on the country’s long-desired Schengen accession.
(Cătălina Mihai | EURACTIV.ro)
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