Negotiations on Romania’s accession to Schengen are in the last hundred meters and it is a matter of time from the point of view of the exact calendar. It is about joining in two stages, first by air, then by land, this last stage to be completed next autumn or early 2025 at the latest.

• Debate with MEPs Victor Negrescu (PSD) and Eugene Tomak (PMP)

“I think we are close to good news, and in the coming hours, days we will know whether we can get into the Schengen zone not only by air, but also by land. I actually closed the thread in the airway. Austria seems to support us in this direction. We are currently in the negotiation phase to see if we have a projected date for the ground route. We also have an agreement in principle there, but we don’t have a date. A date is currently being discussed. We hope that this time will be certain, that it will happen sometime in the autumn of next year, if not at the latest at the beginning of 2025,” PSD MEP Victor Negrescu said during the HotNews.ro debate.

“I think we need to take a cautious approach to assuming certain timelines, because I remember very well last year, in October, we had a meeting with the then Prime Minister, Nicolae Chuke, who told us to be sure, that everything is on track, 12.08.2022 Romania enters the Schengen zone. (…) Obviously I want it, let’s do it as soon as possible. I said 2025 precisely because I realize that when we enter the electoral logic of the next elections to the European Parliament, surprises may arise in many countries,” said Member of the European Parliament Yevhen Tomak.

Tomac: “Two-stage entry is a trade-off to avoid getting stuck in constant rejection”

“The entry into the Schengen area in two stages is an “important step” for Romania,” says Victor Negrescu.

“When you enter the Schengen area, even if you only enter by air, you have actually entered the Schengen area because you have a data exchange, an information exchange, your officers in the border protection area interact with those who located in the Schengen area. , you can move your personnel who were at the airports to other control zones,” said the PSD MEP.

“Now, for the first time, a significant step forward has been made in giving us a chance to enter the Schengen zone, because, on the one hand, we have removed the veto from all states except Austria, which means the entry of Romania. to the Schengen zone. The latest information is that here, including the Dutch government, they are no longer against the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the free movement zone. So we are mostly successful. We managed to isolate Austria. To isolate Austria, which seemed almost impossible last year. We are in a situation where we are negotiating with the European Commission, together with the Spanish Presidency, in order to find a formula that is acceptable to all parties involved. In essence, we have unlocked what seemed impossible to unlock last year,” Negrescu said. He added that the Prime Minister joined the negotiations, having managed to unblock them, considering that the PSD has no representation in the decision-making forums – the JAI Council or the European Council.

Access to Schengen in two stages “is a compromise in order not to get stuck in a permanent refusal,” said EU Member of Parliament Eugene Tomak.

“No country has waited so long since joining the European Union to open its borders. Austria joined the European Union in 1995, and on January 1, 1997, it joined the Schengen Area. Our neighboring countries from the east of Europe joined the European Union, Hungary, for example, together with other states in 2004, they were in the Schengen zone on January 1, 2008. We are the only two countries that have been waiting to achieve this goal since 2007, considering that since 2011 we have met all the criteria. Therefore, it is clear that we cannot accept such a concession in any form. But, obviously, efforts need to be sustained constantly. And this is what we did in the European Parliament, we did not lose any opportunity not to raise the topic of Schengen, whether it was the debate about the environment, about the internal market, we always supported this topic, and I think that played an important the role is for the Commission to be a little more aggressive, including in dealing with states that have opposed it,” Tomak said.

When and how will Romania’s accession to Schengen be officially decided?

As for the formalization of Romania’s accession to Schengen, it can be done in two ways: either at the JAI Council, or through a decision at a meeting of ambassadors of the EU member states, which will then be on the agenda of any other council. .

“There are several options: an extraordinary council of justice and internal affairs, or in another foreign format. Rather, the scenario under discussion is an emergency interior council with interior ministers. The advantage is that we have an assumed solution. Here the Austrian Minister of the Interior can leave the room if he wants to. But we need to reach a consensus, be sure and not raise the stake too much. The second possible format is a meeting of the ambassadors of the EU member states, where they can also vote at the last council or at the first council at the beginning of the year, this is tacitly approved,” Victor Negrescu explained. He stated that this last option “is rather agreed by the Austrian partners”.

Deputy Yevhen Tomach, a member of the European Parliament, appreciates the completion of the process of Romania’s accession to the Schengen area in 2025. “At this point, I firmly believe and have the comfort, not being in power, to say what I believe, not disregarding the progress that has been made, that we will go through stages, unfortunately, and I think that process will end in 2025,” he said.

Romania was seen as a second-class country where it made a mistake in the Schengen negotiations, what does it really mean for our country to join Schengen, you can find out the answers in the full interview below: