The Diplomat
The Popular Parliamentary Group in Congress has asked the Government to recognize that “Romania and Bulgaria meet the conditions to be part of the Schengen area” and, therefore, reject “the existing blockade since 2011 by the EU Council to the incorporation of both nations.”
In a Non-Law Proposition presented last October 28 by MPs Valentina Martínez Ferro and Pablo Hispán for debate in the Foreign Affairs Committee (and published last November 8 by the Official Gazette of the Cortes Generales), the PP recalls that, on October 5, 2022, the European Commission showed “its full agreement and support for the entry of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, as this represents a clear political message from the European Union to strengthen the process of integration of both countries with the rest of the Member States.”
According to the motion, “Romania and Bulgaria acceded as full member states of the European Union in 2007” and, since 2011, “both countries fulfill all the legal and technical obligations required for Schengen to be fully implemented.” “Romania and Bulgaria are open societies whose citizens have a significant and active presence in numerous European nations, with the result that the removal of borders will facilitate their movements,” it continues.
Apart from that, “on December 11, 2018, the European Parliament approved in a Resolution the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis for Bulgaria and Romania, whereby controls at land, sea and internal air borders were to be removed.” It therefore “urged the Council to take an immediate decision to lift controls at the land, sea and internal air borders of Romania and Bulgaria.”
“After more than eleven years of waiting, considering the excellent management of the external borders in the face of the large number of refugees that have arrived from Ukraine and given that Croatia is going to be given the go-ahead, it is an excellent occasion to push for Romania and Bulgaria to accede to the Schengen Area and for the EU Council to stop blocking such a pronouncement,” the Popular Group points out. “This is a circumstance in which the Spanish Government can and must exercise decisive leadership,” it adds.
For all these reasons, the Popular Parliamentary Group urges the Government to “recognize that Romania and Bulgaria meet the conditions to be part of the Schengen Area and reject the existing blockade since 2011 by the Council to the incorporation of both nations.” In that sense, the motion asks the Government to lead “the necessary initiatives for the European Council to address the incorporation of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area together with the planned incorporation of Croatia”.
