EU Parliament Calls on Council to Let Bulgaria & Romania Join Schengen By the End of 2023

Brussels: The European Union’s Parliament has adopted a new resolution, urging the EU Council to take seriously the matter of Schengen accession for Bulgaria and Romania, and let both countries join the borderless zone before the end of the year.

In a press release, the parliament has revealed that the new resolution, which stresses that both countries have met all necessary criteria to join Schengen, was supported by 526 MEPs, while only 57 were against it.

According to the same, keeping Bulgaria and Romania outside the Schengen Area socially and economically damages the populations and businesses in these two countries, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“Citizens of Bulgaria and Romania are discriminated against, as they face delays, bureaucratic difficulties and additional costs when travelling or doing business abroad, compared to their counterparts in the Schengen area,” the resolution further says.

It also points out that Romanians and Bulgarians are subject to delays at border crossings that vary from a few hours, to even days, when compared to the average of only ten minutes that the nationals of Schengen countries experience.

The resolution also concludes that keeping Bulgaria and Romania outside of Schengen not only harms the EU single market by obstructing the free flow of goods between the Member States, but also affects the environment.

“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,” the MEPs say.

SchengenVisaInfo.com had also previously reported that keeping Romania and Bulgaria outside the borderless zone is harmful for the environment, as road vehicles waiting at the border controls emit an estimated volume of more than 46,000 tons of CO2 per year.

According to a publication by KPMG Romania this translates into the need for 311,00 mature trees to clean the air, and is equivalent to more than 56 million kWh of coal-based electricity.

In their newly adopted resolution, the MEPs have once again criticised the Council for failing to grant membership to these two countries on December 8, 2022, asserting that this was done “without presenting any legal justification related to accession criteria.”

Romania and Bulgaria, together with Ireland and Cyprus, remain the last EU Member States outside of the Schengen Zone. While Ireland had declined to join back in 1985, Cyprus cannot join still due to its issues with Northern Cyprus.

Schengen Membership for Romania and Bulgaria has been supported by two of the three main EU institutions, the Commission and the Parliament.