The Romanian government gave Austria a gift by signing a bilateral agreement during the December 30, 2023 decision to join the Schengen area with an air and sea border, because if the lawsuit filed on behalf of Eugene Tomak personally, it would be difficult for Romania to prove that it feels discriminated against. as long as she accepted this agreement, believes the MEP from the EPP. As a reminder, Romania and Bulgaria should be admitted to Schengen on March 31, but only with airports and seaports, and land border controls will continue, as Austria continues to resist.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Tuesday that he is “firmly convinced” that Romania will become a full member of the Schengen Agreement this year.

However, MEP Eugen Tomas believes that Romania has no chance of registering progress in joining the Schengen area this year after it joins with air and sea borders from March 31.

The proposal to abolish border controls between Romania, Bulgaria and Greece – originally proposed by Eugen Tomak in March 2023 and supported this year by several MEPs, including Dacian Ciolos and Vlad Gheorghe – has no chance of success because it is not on the agenda. governments in Sofia and Bucharest.

• “It would benefit everyone, above all Greece, because Romanian tourists prefer the Greek coast as a summer destination, but it is not only for this purpose that the borders should be opened, but because there is a fairly stable trade. between our states and in relations with Bulgaria and in relations with Greece.
• So, from that point of view, I think a solution would be welcome. Unfortunately, I do not see such an opportunity on the agenda of either our government or the Bulgarian government, given that we know very well that, unfortunately, there is no prospect for joining the land-based Schengen this year,” Eugene Tomak told Agerpres . , Tuesday, in Brussels.

“The Government of Romania made a gift to Austria”

In his opinion, the Council of Justice and Home Affairs (JAI) in March will not discuss Romania’s accession to the Schengen zone, as well as land borders “for a very simple reason: everyone is in a fever for elections and priorities are different “: That is why this very rare the applicable formula, namely through a written procedure for the admission of two states to the Schengen area without a clear obligation to enter the land”.

Tomac believes that Romania has been put in a “quite humiliating” situation, being forced, at the insistence of Vienna, to sign a bilateral agreement under which it assumes a number of obligations that, in any case, stem from the Schengen agreement.

• “But there’s another rather unfortunate provision in that bilateral agreement, because it says that Austria has the final say when the land expansion is discussed again, because until it solves its problem of illegal migration, it can’t make that decision. .
• However, such an obligation cuts off any prospect of a possible lawsuit,” said Eugene Tomak.

He says he believes the document was drawn up because the governments of Bucharest and Vienna were “deeply concerned” by a lawsuit filed on their behalf at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which is under appeal.

• “Nobody knows how the trial at the Court of Justice of the European Union will be handled (…),” said the MEP, in the context of Austria losing a trial with Romania in recent years for non-payment of child benefit.
• “Obviously, a positive result for us, unfavorable for Austria, makes the situation very difficult.
• At the moment, practically, the Romanian government has offered a gift to Austria, because if I win the case, it will be difficult to prove that we feel discriminated against if we accepted bilaterally, in addition to the Schengen agreement, let’s agree on another agreement ( …)

We are in the EU, but with the integration process we stop at the Schengen borders. And this is an extremely serious matter, and I am convinced that at the end of the process that we have started, we will have some first decisions on the decisions that the Court of Justice of the EU will take, but it remains to be seen how this process will develop,” added the member of the European Parliament.

Romania’s partial accession to Schengen from March 31

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.

At the December negotiations, the Bucharest authorities tried to introduce a specific date for the abolition of land border controls, but achieved only the promises of the 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 can be the probable date of land, and most importantly, Romania, integration into Schengen? At the moment, it is most likely that it could be adopted 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.

Austria still does not want Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen at all

Austria still does not want Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen at all. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in late 2023 that integration with airports and the navy was a “step forward” but that “it would be wrong” at this point to give the green light to land borders as well.

“It would be wrong at this stage. Land border control is still necessary. It is not only about Romania and Bulgaria. The entire migration system is in disarray. I’m not the one who scores Romania and Bulgaria. I am committed to the functioning of the system at the European level. And this will be only if the external border is protected. It is also an important part of the new pact on asylum and migration that the EU has agreed and which we now have to implement. Only then can there be full freedom of movement in the EU again,” Karner said in an interview with Die Presse. (Photo: Dreamstime.ro)

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