Debate: Accession to the Schengen area
Date: TUESDAY, 11 JULY 2023
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

As stated in this year’s State of Schengen report, the area is functioning well overall and was the most visited destination in the world last year. Schengen brings liberty and prosperity, and the absence of border checks between our Member States is cherished by Europeans and is part of European identity.  It is both a legal expectation and a European promise that Member States acceding to the Union participate fully in the Schengen area once all the agreed conditions are met and – as the Commission has underlined repeatedly since 2011 – Bulgaria and Romania have continued to meet all the necessary conditions to join the Schengen area.  Controls at the Romanian and Bulgarian internal borders bring extra economic and environmental burden to all EU citizens, as underlined in the petition we discussed today. Therefore, it is urgent to finalise the process that started 12 years ago and let Bulgaria and Romania become full members of Schengen.  Both Member States have constantly acted as essential actors for the continuous development of the Schengen acts. They have gone beyond what was required of them and agreed on a voluntary basis to the fact—finding missions of October and November 2022 – missions which further confirmed their readiness to join the Schengen area.  The Commission regrets that the Council did not reach unanimity on the decision on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the area in December 2022.  Not only are these two Member States ready to become full members of the Schengen area, but equally the area is today stronger than ever before, with many challenges on their way to being addressed. Just to give a few examples, our work on the Western Balkans with the EU Action Plan we proposed in December 2022 is producing excellent results. Overall pressure on the Western Balkans route has decreased by 25% in the first five months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.  On visas, significant decisions have been taken by the partners to align the visa policy. On border management, tangible progress has been made on the two pilot projects set up in March by Bulgaria and Romania showcasing good practices at European level in this area.  Moreover, new Frontex status agreements are well under way. New operations started in mid-April in North Macedonia. We signed a new agreement with Montenegro in May, and expect to sign one with Albania in September. Negotiations are ongoing with Serbia and we expect Bosnia and Herzegovina to appoint a chief negotiator during the summer.  Finally, the Regional Anti-smuggling Cooperation Partnership, launched in Tirana in November 2022, is also bringing results with increased engagement at operational level between EU Member States and the Western Balkans.  We are delivering on all fronts of managing migration, and this makes our area stronger. It is high time the EU honour its commitment to grant the two Member States full membership and further strengthen the European Union in doing so.  Schengen enlargement remains a political priority for this Commission, and we welcome that this is a priority also for the Spanish Presidency. The Commission is working closely with the Spanish Presidency to prepare for a decision to be taken by the Council to lift internal border controls as soon as possible this year.