site.btaMost Bulgarians, EU Citizens (72%) Consider Schengen Among EU's Main Achievements

The majority of Bulgarians and other EU citizens (72%) are of the opinion that the Schengen Area is one of the main achievements of the EU, according to data from a Eurobarometer survey presented Tuesday by the European Commission.

According to 76% of the Bulgarian respondents (82% in the EU), the Schengen Area first of all promotes interactions between people from different cultures; for 74% in Bulgaria (80% in the EU) the area without border controls is good for business, for 66% (75% in the EU) it personally has more advantages than disadvantages. More than 60% say that the Schengen area improves security and more than 50% believe that more efforts should be put into securing the EU's external borders in the coming years.

More than half of Bulgarians say they have never travelled to the Schengen area as tourists ((54% vs. 38% in the EU), for shopping (77% in Bulgaria vs. 73% in the EU), for business (85%).

A total of 21% of Bulgarian companies (33% in the EU) report that their country's Schengen membership leads to lower prices in their operations, and 13% (24% in the EU) - that this is important for their customers. According to some 82% of Bulgarian companies and 83% of those in the EU, Schengen creates business opportunities, but 62% of responses in Bulgaria and 57% in the EU indicate that companies do not maintain business relations with partners in Schengen countries. According to 46% of responses in Bulgaria and 56% in the EU, companies do not decide with whom to do business according to whether both companies are established in the EU.