Resolution on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area

The European Parliament adopted by 547 votes to 49, with 43 abstentions, a resolution on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area.

The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA, ECR and the Left groups.

The resolution recalled that the Schengen area is a unique arrangement and one of the greatest achievements of the EU, facilitating the free movement of people within the Schengen area without internal border controls. Bulgaria and Romania adopted the Schengen acquis upon their accession to the European Union in 2007 and the completion of the Schengen evaluation process for Bulgaria and Romania and the state of preparedness of the two countries to implement all the provisions of the acquis were confirmed in 2011.

Parliament is dismayed that since 2011, the Council has failed to take a decision on the full application of the Schengen acquis to Bulgaria and Romania despite the repeated calls to this end by both the Commission and Parliament.

According to the resolution, maintaining internal border controls is discriminatory and has a serious impact on the lives of mobile workers and citizens. It undermines their trust in the European integration process. Moreover, by obstructing imports, exports and the free flow of goods from freight ports, they also harm the EU single market.

The full application of the provisions of the Schengen  acquis in Bulgaria and Romania would strengthen the Schengen area and help to ensure equal rights for all citizens within it. In this regard, Parliament welcomed the willingness of Romania and Bulgaria to voluntarily host a fact-finding mission, which constitutes an expression, on their part, of the principle of sincere cooperation and mutual trust, despite the fact that they have already met all of the legal requirements and there are no grounds for any further evaluations.

The Council is urged to take all the necessary steps to adopt its decision on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis to Bulgaria and Romania by the end of 2022, thus ensuring the abolition of checks on persons at all internal borders for both of those Member States in early 2023.