Companies employing foreign workers will be required to conclude an individual employment contract within a maximum of 15 working days from the moment the foreigner enters Romania or, depending on the circumstances, from the moment of obtaining a new work permit, in the case of a long-stay employment visa, otherwise risks a fine of between 5,000 and 10,000 lei, according to an emergency decree passed by the government on Thursday.

The above-mentioned fact is not an offense if the non-conclusion of an individual employment contract was due to the foreigner’s fault.

At the same time, the employer is obliged to carry out activities for at least 1 year in the field for which the employment permit is requested.

In order to control migration, the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) assigns a personal numerical code to a foreign worker when issuing an employment announcement or placing notices and establishes the possibility to announce the presence of a foreigner in the legal field on the territory of Romania, including through an IT application developed IGI.

• SEE DRAFT GEO AND KEYNOTE

The new measures adopted by the Emergency Decree take place in a context where, from 31 March 2024, Romania and Bulgaria will become Schengen member states fully applying the Schengen acquis, and the control of people at internal air and sea borders will be introduced. liquidated

Romania’s full application of the Schengen acquis requires the abolition of air and sea border controls in the first stage, which means that the national legal framework must be brought into line with the provisions of the Schengen acquis by 31 March 2024.

At the same time, the full application of Schengen legislation by Romania implies the need to strengthen measures to ensure public order and security, especially for the contingent of workers newly admitted to the labor market out of 100,000 foreign workers.

This is in a context in which Romania is currently facing a diverse palette of methods of illegal migration, given its geographical position, at the junction between the East as a departure area for migrants and the West as a destination area for illegal migration.

Romania and Bulgaria are in Schengen from March 31 only with an air and sea border

At the end of December, the EU Council announced that Romania and Bulgaria will join Schengen with an air and sea border on March 31, 2024.

The authorities in Bucharest tried to introduce a specific date for the lifting of land border controls during the talks in December 2023, but all they got was a promise of talks. The year-end declaration signed by the three countries, attached to the EU Council’s communication, mentions a “commitment to discuss in 2024 a date for the possible abolition of land border controls”.

This, however, depends on 5 measures leading to a “significant improvement of the migration situation in Austria”, additional measures that have not been applied in the case of any other Schengen acceding country.

Still depends on Austria, decisions are taken unanimously. In addition, this is also stated in the decision of the Council of the EU, published in the Official Journal of the Union:

“The council is working on a decision to lift controls on people at internal land borders. The relevant decision is taken by the Council unanimously in accordance with paragraph (2) of Article 4 of the Act of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania from 2005.”

What can be the probable date of land integration, and most importantly, of Romania to Schengen? At the moment, it is most likely that it could be adopted later this year, and the actual integration could happen in 2025.

This is due to the context of this year’s European elections and the fact that Austria is holding internal elections in the autumn, so it is unlikely that Vienna’s position will change before then.

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