The authorities in Bucharest presented the agreement from the end of 2023 to join Schengen in terms of air and sea borders as a big victory, but the big stake is land integration, for which there is no deadline, only optimistic statements.

A decision is not likely to be announced until the end of this year, given that Austria, despite its softer negotiating position, is not backing down from its terms. “There is still a long way to go to the full Schengen integration of Romania and Bulgaria”, wrote, on X, Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer, December 31.

The authorities in Bucharest tried during the December negotiation offensive to introduce a specific date for the abolition of land border controls, but all they got was the promise of negotiations. 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”. However, this is subject to 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. This, by the way, is stated in the decision of the Council of the EU, published in the Official Journal of the Union: “The Council is making efforts to adopt a decision on the abolition of control over people at the 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 would be a realistic date of joining the Earth

What can be the probable date of land integration, and most importantly, of Romania to Schengen?

At this point, the decision is most likely to be made by the end of this year, and the actual integration could happen in 2025. This is due to the European electoral context this year and the fact that Austria is holding internal elections in the fall, as Vienna’s position is unlikely to change by then. .

In addition, Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku left room for maneuver, avoiding the promotion of a specific deadline. At the first meeting of the government this year, the head of the government expressed hope that by the end of 2024 “we will finish this process definitively.”

The 2025 option was also mentioned by MEPs Victor Negrescu (PSD) and Eugen Tomak (PMP) during a debate on HotNews.ro.

“We hope that this time will be certain, that it will happen sometime in the fall of next year, if not at the latest at the beginning of 2025,” said Victor Negrescu.

“I said 2025 precisely because I realize that when we enter the electoral logic of the next elections to the European Parliament, there may be surprises in many countries,” said Eugene Tomak.

The Romanian economy loses a huge amount every year

The consequences of not joining the Schengen zone are significant from an economic point of view.

Former economy minister Florin Spataru estimated that Romania loses 10 billion euros annually by remaining on the border of the free movement zone.

Staying at the Schengen land border means problems for carriers and the environment, which was also reflected in the European Parliament resolution adopted last summer.

What the document says:

• While the waiting time for trucks crossing borders between Schengen member states was between 10 and 30 minutes in 2021, in the case of many crossings without delays, for non-Schengen countries, delays at border crossing points could be several hours and even days.
• In 2022, at the western borders of Romania, queues formed by waiting trucks were more than 25 km long. These long queues at customs, which equate to several days of waiting, have an extremely negative impact on the working conditions of truck drivers and the environment.
• The high level of pollution caused by thousands of vehicles queuing every day, waiting for several hours or even days to cross the borders between Hungary and Romania, Romania and Bulgaria and Bulgaria and Greece, is also a threat to the environment and human health. drivers, customs officials and people living in border crossing areas.
• The fact-based information highlighted that 46,000 tonnes of CO2 are being emitted annually due to the decision not to lift internal border controls for Romania and Bulgaria.

Huge losses for carriers as well

The road transport industry suffered €2.41 billion in losses due to Romania’s failure to join the Schengen agreement, the National Union of Road Transporters of Romania claimed in a statement last year.

Carrier calculations:

• Direct losses – lost time at border crossing points with Hungary and Bulgaria
• In 2022, 3.9 million truck crossings for entry/exit to Romania were registered through 18 checkpoints on the border with Hungary and Bulgaria (not including transit)
• The waiting time at border crossing points with Bulgaria and Hungary ranges from a minimum of 30 minutes to 72 hours, with an average of 6 hours per crossing. Thus, trucks are forced to stand still for 23.5 million hours a year. Time means money.
• The direct losses of Romanian road carriers caused by Romania’s non-accession to Schengen amount to €2.41 billion, representing potential revenue losses and ongoing costs for carriers. For the road freight market, these revenue losses represent approximately 15% of the current value of €15.2 billion. By default, the state loses 15% more taxes than the carriers would pay.