Category: Business Support

France has issues with the Roma population from Romania and Bulgaria, who have moved in the country and are not making efforts to integrate there. This however should have no connection with whether or not Romania and Bulgaria are ready to access the Schengen area. The two countries state that the French authorities should stop using their problems with the Roma population as an excuse and a reason to reject the two countries an entry to the visa free Schengen area. Bulgaria and Romania consider this type of politics as an election campaign lead to serve local issues.

Romania and Bulgaria are looking towards a membership in the Schengen area, however the two countries have been facing a strong opposition from France and the Netherlands. Even so, according to the European Commission the two countries are ready to become members of the passport free borderless zone of Schengen. According to the Bulgarian president, the delay in admittance of the country into Schengen zone is a politically motivated fact. The President confirmed once again that Bulgaria and Romania are technically ready to become members as they have been working on their borders and have been very efficient in their results. Bulgaria has already invested great funds on guarding the Schengen border and thus the country is expecting solidarity from the other countries in Europe.

According to Najat Belkacem-Vallaud, the French government spokesperson, Bulgaria and Romania have not fulfilled the requirements for getting a membership in the Schengen free travel zone. France showed once again that it is not ready and not willing to accept Romania and Bulgaria as members of the Schengen area, and it claims that other member state countries from the passport-free union are not willing either. At the end of September Manuel Valls, the French Minister of Interior Affairs, confirmed that his country have not filed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into the agenda. The French Minister also pointed out that the Roma population from the two countries should be send back to Bulgaria and Romania, since it cannot integrate in the French style of living. This statement caused severe reaction and received strong criticism on the side of the European Commission.

Even so, Chair of former President Nickolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement Jean-François Cope demanded from the Head of State at the moment to declare officially the position of the country on the matter – France is against Bulgaria and Romania entering the Schengen area. The regulations allowed all European Union countries to postpone their labor markets opening for Romania and Bulgaria for a maximum period of seven years starting from the access of the two countries into the European Union back in 2007. Actually a great deal of the countries have already lifted these restrictions, however France is not one of them even if its deadline is in January 2014. France or rather some of its politicians firmly oppose the Romanian and the Bulgarian entry into the Schengen zone.

The president of the European Commission gave an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio in the middle of September, where he declared his support for Bulgaria to join the Schengen agreement zone. Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso said that Bulgaria should be given the opportunity and should become a member of the travel-free zone as soon as possible. The interview was provoked by the news that Great Britain plans to end the seasonal jobs it was offering to Bulgarians. According to the president of the European Commission, there should be a free movement of people in all member states of the European Union without any conditions to be laid.

Mr. Boroso put a stress on the fact that he wants all Bulgarians to know that the European Commission will support those who are willing to face a strong and united Europe. He declared that he will do everything necessary for the people from all member states of the union to feel that they have the same status. The president of the European Commission further stated that Europe respects all the democratic movements in Bulgaria including the protests against the government that lasts for three months already.

In a recent interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, the president of the European Commission declared that Bulgaria and Romania should be allowed to enter the passport free travel zone of the Schengen agreement. According to Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, Romania and Bulgaria have met all the criteria required to enter the Schengen area and they should be given a chance. According to the president of the European Commission, the free movement of people will be a basic principle when labor markets are concerned in the European Union. Unfortunately, in May this year Romania and Bulgaria were rejected to enter the Schengen agreement after the Netherlands and Germany opposed on the grounds that the two countries are not ready and have issues to arrange such as corruption. Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, however thinks that there should not be first and second class citizens in Europe and the region will be more strong when it is united.

The Schengen zone is an area of free movement and no internal border controls among the states that are its members. Currently there are twenty-five member states of the Schengen agreement. Four new members are waiting to be accepted in the Schengen area including Bulgaria and Romania, Liechtenstein and Cyprus.

Bulgaria decided to ask for direct assistance from the European Commission in connection with the Syria refugees situation. According to the Interior Minister in the country Tsvetan Yovchev, the Bulgarian administration will prepare the necessary documents that are required for that. The documents were expected to be prepared by the end of September or the beginning of October. The European Commission, which supports Bulgaria in its application to enter the borderless Schengen zone, is expected to help Bulgaria with the refugees’ situation. The refugees are expected soon to become more than 5% of the Bulgarian population. Without technical and financial help from Europe and the solidarity from the European Commission, Bulgaria will not be able to cope with that situation. According to the minister, the country will ask for some of the refugees to be directed to other countries in the European Union as well.

People in Bulgaria hope that their efforts and help in connection with the refugees will be noticed and appreciated, which will assist the country in its efforts to enter the passport free Schengen zone. Bulgaria went through a long period of applying to enter the Schengen area. Today the country has technical readiness and meets all the requirements, besides Bulgaria has proven that it could be a reliable outer border of the European Union.

Norway declared that it is not willing to accept Bulgaria and Romania as new members of the Schengen zone. The passport-free travel area might become a mirage for Bulgaria and Romania since Norway opposed the enlargement of the Schengen agreement. This news came in August, as the two countries were preparing for the discussions in December. However, Romania and Bulgaria are technically ready for their accession. Even so, the Norwegian politicians thing that the Schengen membership should be denied as the visa-free zone will face a higher crime situation. The politicians from Norway understand that the problems are made by the Roma population from Romania and Bulgaria and not by the regular citizens, but still the issue remains.

According to the European Commission, both Bulgaria and Romania are ready to enter the Schengen zone. The two countries have followed all the requirements that were set in order to be accepted in the borderless area. Currently Norway, the Netherlands and some of the other older members of the European Union are not willing to accept Romania and Bulgaria as new members of the Schengen zone. Their position is based on the grounds of corruption, lack of progress that concerns the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and poor border control.

A new requirement has been introduced by all countries that are member states of the Schengen Area. According to that requirement, people that are coming from countries outside this European passport-free zone should have a passport that is valid for at least three months beyond the date of their departure. This new rule entered into force on 19th July. The new change is officially known as regulation EU 610/2013 and it covers the countries from the Schengen zone and also Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria are not part of the borderless Schengen free-travel agreement zone yet. In order to become members of the Schengen zone, the three countries need to cover certain criteria. There is yet another requirement – the passports should be issued within the last ten years.

The Schengen zone aims to abolish the checks that are placed alongside the internal borders of the European Union, however at the same time it needs to tighten the control at the external borders, following a set of strict rules. The rules cover several areas like rules for people crossing the external borders of the European Union, same rules on short-stay visas, police cooperation and usage of the Schengen Information System.

During an official visit in Bucharest the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Vigenin assured his Romanian counterpart that the long protests against the government in Bulgaria will not impede the attempt of the two countries to access the passport-free Schengen zone. According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, the undergoing protests in Sofia will not lead to a situation in which problems will arise for Romania and Bulgaria to join the no visa Schengen zone. Mr. Vigenin pointed out that the Bulgarian Government and the Parliament are active and will do their share of the work in order to prepare the country for joining the Schengen zone. According to him the current political situation in Bulgaria should not have an impact on the possible decision that concern the entry into Schengen that is expected to be taken by the end of this year.

The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the two countries will coordinate their positions, aiming to cover all requirements that are needed in order for them to be accepted in the free movement zone of Schengen, as their accession is already listed in the agenda of the Council for Justice and Home Affairs, which will take place in December this year. Romania and Bulgaria will join their Schengen acceptance campaigns.

In the last decade of August the Foreign Minister of Romania stated that Romania and Bulgaria will work together and make efforts to overcome their problems. He confirmed the hopes of the two countries to join the Schengen area in two-phase process. During the presidency of Lithuania, there will be a draft resolution on that issue as part of the agenda of the council that is expected to be held in December. Romania and Bulgaria will attend joint meetings this fall, during which they will lay the grounds for the meeting of their joint efforts. The position of Romania and Bulgaria that concern Schengen entry will be coordinated. There will be negotiations and several bilateral agreements that concern the implementation of several programs based on cooperation between the two countries. These programs concern not only the regional cooperation, but also cooperation in Europe.

The Foreign Ministers of Romania and Bulgaria already stated that the economic exchanges and cross-border cooperation between the two countries should be increased. This summer was opened the second bridge over Danube River that linked the Bulgarian town of Vidin with the Romania town of Calafat. There will also be talks on the cooperation on energy issues and various cultural projects. The neighboring countries Bulgaria and Romania are already members of the European Union and NATO, they have common interests and projects together.

This summer the Ambassador of the Netherlands stated that his country is not satisfied with the progress that Bulgaria, having in mind the attempts that the country makes to enter the Schengen agreement. According to Mr. Karel van Kesteren, Bulgaria should make more efforts to fight crime and corruption in the country and to improve its judiciary system and should oppose the oligarchic model which is not compatible with the membership in the European Union. The Ambassador confirmed that Bulgaria is technically ready to enter the Schengen zone, however it is still not showing enough progress as far as the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism is concerned.

In the beginning of August it became clear that Norway is also against the Schengen entry of Bulgaria and Romania. Norway is against the enlargement of the Schengen zone, fearing a new wave of crime. The press in Norway states that local people are against the Roma people coming from the two countries and not against the regular citizens of Bulgaria and Romania. The entry of Bulgaria in the visa-free Schengen area is still in question. The Schengen bid of the two countries will be discussed this winter. If Romania and Bulgaria are accepted in the Schengen zone, most probably people from the two countries will be able to travel without passports throughout the countries from the Schengen agreement next spring.