Romania and Bulgaria will still have to wait. Austria vetoed this enlargement of the Schengen area on Thursday, December 8, while a positive decision was expected, except surprise, for Croatia.
“I will vote today against the enlargement of Schengen to Romania and Bulgaria”, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced as he arrived for a meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels.
Austria, which is facing a sharp increase in asylum applications, fears that the lifting of border controls with these two countries will further increase the arrival of migrants. “This year we have recorded more than 100,000 illegal border crossings into Austria”did he declare.
A decision that must be taken unanimously
The European Commission and Parliament have been calling for a long time to include Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria in this vast area (22 countries of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) within which more than 400 million people can travel freely, without internal border controls.
Membership, which must be decided unanimously by the Member States, would in particular have the effect of eliminating the long queues of vehicles at the borders of these countries and of encouraging tourism. In return, the Schengen member countries must assume rigorous control of the external borders of this area of free movement, and commit to police cooperation to fight against organized crime or terrorism. Croatia (3.9 million inhabitants), member of the EU since 2013 and which will join the euro zone next January, expects a positive response.
The Netherlands unfavorable to the entry of Bulgaria
In addition to Austria, another Member State, the Netherlands, is hostile to Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen. Dutch Migration Minister Eric van der Burg explained on Thursday that his country has concerns about “Corruption and Human Rights” in this country and asked for a new report from the Commission on these points.“For us it’s a yes to Croatia and a yes to Romania”he said.
But currently the case of Romania (19 million inhabitants) is procedurally linked to that of Bulgaria (6.5 million). The two former communist countries entered the EU in 2007 and have been knocking on Schengen’s door for more than ten years.