Partial Schengen Entry Results in Direct Losses of BGN 845 Mln for Bulgaria

Petya Petrova

Economy Minister Nikolov addresses the forum (Photo: Minko Chernev/BTA)

Sofia,

08.07.2024 13:06

(BTA)

Direct losses for Bulgaria from the delay of the country’s full accession to Schengen amount to BGN 845 million, said Economy Minister Petko Nikolov, quoting a report of the Institute for Economic Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, commissioned by the Ministry.

Nikolov on Monday participated in a forum discussing the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and their place on the Bulgarian political agenda at the Europe House in Sofia. The event has been organized by PanEuropa Bulgaria and the Hungarian Embassy in Sofia in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and the European Commission Representation in Sofia.

Nikolov noted that in addition to the direct financial losses, foregone gains due to land border controls amount to about BGN 550 million and thus the direct and potential benefits from the abolition of border controls by land amount to BGN 1.3 billion per year.

The results of Bulgaria's and Romania's full accession to Schengen are not a one-off effect, but will intensify with deeper economic integration between European countries, which means that each successive postponement will cause greater losses for both the Bulgarian and the European economy, he said.

“We see it as extremely positive that Hungary has made Bulgaria’s accession by land a priority. We highly appreciate Hungary's support for a quick and I would say life-saving accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen and I hope that by the end of the year this will become a fact,” Nikolov said.

This is important for all economies, especially the Bulgarian one. The benefits are related to the reduction of traffic, the development of the logistics infrastructure, the increase of investor interest in Bulgaria and Romania, the Minister said.

He said that the positive effects for EU countries could be seen in many aspects, including further strengthening of external borders, the increase in trade volumes, the reduction of costs for exporters by freeing up transport resources from trucks waiting at the border, the reduction of travel times, the saving of administrative checks at the border, the reduction of delivery times, the increase in the growth potential of border regions, the environmental effect of ending truck lines at borders.

/PP/