Accession will take place in two stages. March by air and sea, while negotiations on land borders will continue next year
Bulgaria and Romania to join Schengen by air and water in March 2024 The information was announced by Romania, Minister Denkov confirmed it.
It is not yet clear whether we will also enter with land borders – when and with what conditions will be negotiated!
Austria supported the two countries as members, but announced that it expects Bulgaria and Romania to fulfil their commitments under the Dublin agreement, which means taking in those migrants who are in Austria but registered in our country.
“Austria has committed to continue negotiations to open land borders as well. These negotiations will be coupled with substantial support from the European Commission to protect the EU’s external borders with Turkey and Serbia to reduce the flow of illegal migrants into Europe. After 12 years without much progress on Schengen, today we can congratulate ourselves on this undeniable success of the Bulgarian state.”
The negotiations set conditions for strengthening border controls between Bulgaria and Romania:
“Austria wants to fine-tune the controls that are in place there to make sure that the filters work well so that migrants cannot be allowed to cross our borders, so this is now part of the negotiation process, how to make the filters, as they say, so that migrants do not cross from there,” Nikolay Denkov said.
What is the Schengen area?
The Schengen area is one of the main achievements of the European project. It began in 1985 as an intergovernmental project between five EU countries – France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – and has gradually expanded to become the world’s largest free travel zone.
Signing of the Schengen Agreement (14 June 1985)
Schengen is the name of a small village in Luxembourg on the border with Germany and France, where the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 and the Schengen Convention in 1990.
The Schengen area is an area of free movement for citizens of the member states of the Schengen Agreement. It includes certain countries of the European Union (EU) and some non-EU countries that participate in the Schengen Agreement.
The main aspects of the Schengen area include:
1. Freedom of movement: Citizens of the Member States of the Schengen Agreement have the right to move freely within this area without being subject to passport or border checks when crossing borders between participating countries.
2. Common rules on external border controls.
3. Cooperation on justice and home affairs.
The Schengen Agreement does not include all Member States of the European Union. For example, the UK and Ireland do not participate in the Schengen area, even though they are EU members.
It is important to note that freedom of movement within the Schengen area is not unconditional. In cases of serious threats to public security or public order, countries may undertake temporary border controls.
How does the Schengen area protect its borders?
The Schengen area protects its external borders through a number of measures and procedures that are implemented by the Schengen Member States.
Some of the main ways in which the Schengen area protects its borders include:
1. Common standards for border control. This includes document verification, registration of those entering and leaving the territory, and the use of biometric control technologies.
2. Co-operation and co-ordination between Member States. This includes information sharing, exchange of best practices and cooperation in the area of training of border guards.
3. European Border Agency (Frontex). It provides technical support, coordinates joint border patrol operations and participates in the training of border guards.
4. Use of technology and intelligent systems: Schengen countries are introducing and developing innovative technologies, such as biometric identification systems, automated document verification systems and other intelligent systems that help to control borders more effectively.
5. Developing common migration and asylum policies.
Despite these protection efforts, it is important to note that in some cases, emergency situations may arise that require temporary border controls to ensure public security or public order.
Membership
As of December 2023, the Schengen area consists of twenty-five countries. Before 2007, there were 15: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden. Of these, Iceland and Norway are not members of the EU. Ireland is the only member state of the European Union that decided not to participate in the Schengen negotiations and has a special cause in the Treaty of Amsterdam.
In 2007, nine new countries joined the Schengen area – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which had joined the EU three years earlier.
Countries applying to join the Schengen area must improve their border controls vis-à-vis countries outside the area. Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004, does not meet the necessary criteria and is thus delayed by a year, while Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, are still improving border controls to the required levels.
The newest member of the Schengen area is Croatia, which joins in 2023.
We, at TPA Bulgaria, are always on hand if you have any questions:
Contact:
TPA Bulgaria
+359 2 981 66 45/46/47
office@tpa-group.bg