Decision on Schengen Expansion required by the end of the year

Belgium, one of the member states of the Schengen agreement, asked for a decision on the expansion of the zone that should be taken by the end of this year. At the end of May, the Foreign Minister of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders announced that his country would like to know whether the two countries Bulgaria and Romania will be accessed to Schengen or not. The border free travel area is expected to be expanded, but there is no certain dates on which that will happen. The Foreign Minister of Belgium along with the Foreign Ministry of Romania discussed the possibility for such decision of the expansion of the Schengen zone to be taken by the end of this year.

The process of expansion of the Schengen zone shall be approved after a unanimous vote made by all 27 member states of the European Union that take part in the Council for Justice and Home Affairs of the European Union. According to the predictions of the experts, Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen area together since they have already met the necessary technical requirements for entering the border and passport free zone.