site.btaReport by MEP Stanishev Blasts EU Council for Not Admitting Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen Area

ESD 13:30:02 11-12-2018
LN1333ES.106
106 POLITICS - EP - BULGARIA - ROMANIA - SCHENGEN

Report by MEP Sergei Stanishev Blasts EU Council for Not Admitting
Bulgaria and Romania
to Schengen Area


Brussels/Strasbourg, October 19 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Parliament (EP) discussed Monday evening a report by Bulgarian MEP Sergei Stanishev (Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats) in which he blasts the EU Council for not allowing Bulgaria and Romania admission to the visa-free Schengen area. The document will be put to the vote on Tuesday.

"It is strange that no EU Council representative is present, as this is the institution the report is addressed to, despite the promise of the Austrian government that it should be on the agenda this semester," Stanishev said.

He argued that the Council has been in breach of European rules for the last seven years by not making a decision on the matter.

Stanishev described as "unfair" the attempts to couple Schengen's expansion into Bulgaria and Romania with the European Commission's Cooperation and Verification Mechanism of monitoring the two countries progress in reforming their judicial systems and combatting organized crime and corruption.

European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Tibor Navracsic, who attended the discussion, said that the European Commission supports Bulgaria's and Romania's immediate and full accession to the Schengen area.

In the subsequent statements by the parliamentary groups, Carlos Coelho from the European People's Party noted that back in 2011 the EP supported the Bulgaria's and Romania's accession to the Schengen area. Coelho said he supports full admission, adding that it is difficult to understand the discrimination against the two countries who have significant corruption, but the matter is not connected to any of the requirements for joining the Schengen area.

Emilian Pavel, from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, said the two countries should have joined the Schengen area long ago.

Angel Djambazki from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group said that the lack of a solution so far is due to domestic problems in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. He described this as "not right, unfair, duplicitous and hypocritical".

Filiz Hyusmenova from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group pointed out that border controls affect trade. She said that the double standard is discriminatory against the citizens of both countries and they have "a bitter sense of secondary citizenship in the EU, so it is high time the Council proves that the rules are the same for everyone".

Asim Ademov (from the GERB Party/National Party of Europe) pointed out that the only condition for admission is the successful fulfillment of the criteria, confirmed by the Council in 2011. "Seven years have passed and the admission is not happening. Some Member States that are against it are in gross violation of the rules they themselves adopted and approved," he said.

Andrey Kovachev, MEP from the same parliamentary group, said all experts agree that Bulgaria and Romania do not pose a threat to Schengen and that their admission will create more security. He too called for no connection to be made with the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism applied to Bulgaria and Romania. RY/DT