MEPs nudge ministers on Schengen enlargement
The European Parliament on Wednesday (8 June) gave its support for Bulgaria and Romania to join the border-free Schengen zone, a day ahead of an EU ministers' meeting likely to postpone such a decision until September.
With 487 votes in favour, 77 against and 29 abstentions, the Parliament's non-binding opinion is aimed at giving some political impetus to a stalled process on further expansion of the border-free area.
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"The Schengen system is providing the highest standards of border management. Romania and Bulgaria are meeting these standards today - hence, we must not delay their integration," Parliament chief Jerzy Buzek said, urging interior ministers to follow suit.
He also called upon member states not to "destroy [the Schengen area] with rash decisions," a reference to the Franco-Italian row over Tunisian migrants and Danish plans to re-establish border checks.
Other MEPs also criticised the "populist discourse" and unfair treatment of the two EU newlings, which are still struggling with corruption and organised crime - the main reason why interior ministers on Thursday are expected to postpone the decision.
"We want to wait first for an EU commission report on how the two countries are doing in terms of the fight against corruption and organised crime. This report is due in July, so no decision on their Schengen entry will taken before that," one EU diplomat told this website.
In December last year, France and Germany wrote a joint letter warning against the "premature" accession of the two countries to the border-free area, citing corruption and crime.
Both Bucharest and Sofia have been trying to make the case that Schengen accession has never before been linked to the fight against graft and gangsters. But the French-led group of countries and the EU commission point to the fact that trust is key when it comes to securing the common borders.
The likely compromise is that the two countries will be given an entry date later this fall, when 'temporary' border controls are to be allowed in more cases.
A first step in this direction is to be made on Thursday, with ministers likely to endorse a proposal by the EU commission to establish clear criteria for when such a measure can be introduced. Currently, border checks are only allowed in exceptional cases such as football games or 'public safety' matters and only for a very limited time.
But with an anti-immigrant feeling sweeping across the bloc, the rules governing border checks are to be changed so action can be taken if, for instance, a country sees a sudden influx of immigrants, as some fear will be the case with Bulgaria on its Turkish border.