On 31 March, Romania and Bulgaria partially joined the Schengen area. Only partially because just air and sea border checks have been lifted, while road and rail checks remain in place, an unprecedented process in the history of the EU.
1. Schengen
Unltil now, the Schengen area counted 27 countries and extended over 4 million square kilometres with a population of almost 420 million people. With Romania and Bulgaria, the Schengen area now expands over 4.5 million square kilometres with a population of 450 million.
As Schengen Member States, besides the lifting of controls at the air and sea borders with the other countries of the area, Romania and Bulcaria can now issue Schengen visas.
This is a great success for both countries. And a historic moment for the Schengen area – the largest area of free movement in the world.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
2. Travelling
Until 31 March, travellers between Romania, Bulgaria and other Schengen Member States still needed to show a passport, or just national ID if it is issued by an EU country, at all border checks. As of April however, those travelling by air or sea, meaning on flights, cruises or ferries, between the two countries and the rest of the Schengen area are no longer having their passports or IDs checked.
People travelling by road or rail however, be it on personal vehicles, buses or by train, still need to show a valid passport or European ID when crossing the border. “A new decision will have to be taken in order to set a date for the lifting of controls at land borders”, the European Council said in December when it first announced the measure.
3. Next steps
While this step has a “significant symbolic value”, as said by France 24, greatly improving the countries’ tourism industries, the hours long queues at land border crossings still remain. Even worse than the waiting times for travellers are those for trucks, that often spend the night and even up to three days in the worst cases waiting to cross the border. The waiting times are estimated to cost tens of millions of euros every year.
“Only 3% of Bulgarian goods are transported by air and sea, the remaining 97% by land,” Vasil Velev, president of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), told AFP. “So we’re at 3% in Schengen and we don’t know when we’ll be there with the other 97%.”
Both countries have said they not only hope but have government plans in place for full ascension by the end of the year. Discussions on a date for a possible lifting of the checks at land borders will continue in 2024 and a decision by the Council on this matter is expected to be taken “within a reasonable time frame”. What that means however is unclear, as “reasonable time frames” have been offered for years regarding the two countries joining Schengen.
4. Background
Bulgaria and Romania both joined the EU in 2007 and the European Commission established in 2011 that the two countries meet the necessary requirements to be allowed to fully join Schengen. In 2022, amid discussions over Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia’s joining the area, the Commission re-issued a call on the Council, asking to it to “take the necessary decision to allow [the three countries] to become full Schengen Members.”
The two countries’ ascension to Schengen has been vetoed by The Netherlands for several years and, most recently, by Austria, over worries the two countries would not sufficiently protect the area’s borders from migrants. According to the Financial Times, to nudge the Austrian government into a favourable decision, Romania threatened to sue it for several billion euros, as well as to delay Austrian energy company OMV’s gas drilling project in the Black Sea.
On the other hand, over the past few years, Austria has re-introduced land border controls with Hungary, Slovenia and Italy, in an increasingly observed move towards closing down rather than opening up, which has prompted worries that Schengen might be disappearing.
