EC confirms Bulgaria will not join Schengen in January 2014

The president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso declared that the passport-free travel area of Schengen will not open for Bulgaria and Romania in January 2014. In his interview for the television station TF1 in France in the mid November, Jose Barroso stated the expansion of the Schengen no visa area will be postponed as the issue was intermingled with various other issues concerning the immigration. Barroso confirmed that Romania and Bulgaria have fulfilled the technical criteria required but are still outside the Schengen zone as some of the EU member states opposed to that expansion of the Schengen zone and there was no unanimity among the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council members. Romania and Bulgaria have undergone the seven year transitional period after joining the European Union.

He further expressed a fear that the situation is such that the authorities of all countries should be careful not to provoke extremist movements. According to the president of the European Commission, the membership of Bulgaria in the European Union helped the country into setting various important reforms. Jose Manuel Barroso further confirmed that with the start of year 2014 and according to the European Union accession treaties and laws, the labor market in Europe will have to open for the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania as well.