​Prime Minister Marcel Călăcu says he will ask European institutions to side with Romania in the CEU dispute with Austria if Vienna continues to oppose Romania’s entry into Schengen.

The head of the government says that Austria is abusing the right of veto in the Council, and “what Chancellor Nehammer is doing is absolutely wrong, it does not correspond to the principles that stood for the creation of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Council.”

“I demand that the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament be part of Romania’s attack on the CEU. All these European institutions supported and agreed to the accession of Romania to the Schengen zone. Then let me see you, Mr. Chancellor – I understand he likes boxing – let me see how you will react when all the European institutions join Romania in this attack on the CJEU,” Čolaku told digi24.ro.

The prime minister recently announced in an interview with the Austrian publication kurier.at that Romania will sue Austria in the CEU if it continues to oppose Romania’s entry into Schengen.

What Romania could have done after blocking entry to Schengen, but did not do

After Romania’s accession to Schengen was blocked last December in the JAI Council due to Austria’s veto, the legal route for the government would be to sue the Council of the European Union, citing violations of the EU Treaty.

Romania and Bulgaria have fulfilled the conditions for joining Schengen since 2011, and Croatia – from 2021. The recommendations of the European Commission and the Parliament were welcomed by the three Schengen countries. However, only Croatia was accepted and Austria blocked Romania without justification based on EU documents.

In practice, the Council applied the unanimity rule in a discriminatory manner, violating several articles of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The Romanian government had to challenge this conflict through a lawsuit for annulment, as the provisions of the EU Treaty, as well as the Treaty of Accession of Romania to the EU, were violated. The lawsuit had to be filed within two months.

This has not happened, and Romania has no intention of doing so. The strategy of the Bucharest authorities was to emphasize that Austria is the EU’s problem, not Romania’s.

A lawsuit against the Council of the EU will effectively be treated as a lawsuit against the EU, officials from Bucharest said. Read more about it here: Austrian blockade: how long Romania will stay at the Schengen gates / Some concrete realities beyond the political speeches

Member of the European Parliament Yevhen Tomak opened the action in the CJEU in February this year.

• Does the fact that Romania will sue Austria change anything in the Schengen case? What does Cholak’s statement mean?