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The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on the Council of the European Union to set a concrete date for the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area by the end of this year.
The EESC has said that abolishing land border controls between Romania and Bulgaria and other Schengen Zone countries would also bring benefits to the EU single market, Schengen.News reports.
A decision regarding land border accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area is expected to be taken during the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting scheduled for December 12. If approved, both countries would become full members of the Schengen Zone from January 1, 2025.
Romania and Bulgaria entered the Schengen Zone through air and sea on March 31, 2024, but land border controls continue to remain effective.
However, following the meeting of November 22 between the interior ministers of Austria, Romania, and Bulgaria, hosted by Hungary, an agreement was reached that paved the way for full Schengen membership of these two Balkan countries to the Schengen Zone.
The rapporteur of the EESC opinion ‘The Cost of Non-Schengen for the Single Market – impact on Bulgaria and Romania’, Mariya Mincheva, adopted at the EESC plenary session earlier this year, said that EESC is looking forward to a positive and final solution on December 12.
Romania & Bulgaria Are Paying High Economic Price for Their Partial Schengen Accession
The EESC emphasised that the Schengen Agreement is an important factor in the EU’s economic success and that the benefits of Schengen accession should be extended equally to all EU citizens.
The EESC said that both Balkan countries are currently paying a high economic, political, and environmental price for their partial integration into the EU.
Based on a previous study from the Economic Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (ERI), the partial accession of Bulgaria to the borderless area of Schengen led to financial losses surpassing €834 million for the Bulgarian economy.
The figures include direct, indirect and environmental impacts.
The EESC notes that in spite of the fact that there are no comparable numbers for Romania, some figures reveal that delays registered at land borders cost transport operators more than €90 million, with an additional €2.32 billion lost in annual revenues.
Source: https://schengen.news/eesc-calls-on-eu-council-to-set-definite-date-for-romania-bulgarias-full-schengen-accession/
