Romanians set for passport-free movement through EU in 2018

[Mingle]

ROMANIA is pushing EU leaders to hold a vote on its hopes to join the bloc’s passport-less Schengen zone as early as next year, it emerged today.

Bucharest wants the rest of the club to allow it and neighbouring Bulgaria to sign up to the border-free scheme as soon as possible.

In an outspoken intervention Romania’s European affairs minister said the countries now need a decision from other member states over a saga that has dragged on for a decade.

The pair are becoming increasingly frustrated by what they see as protectionism from the rest of the EU designed to stop big companies relocating East.

Romania is pushing for entry to the borderless Schengen zone

Eurocrats say Romania and Bulgaria meet the criteria for joining the passport-less zone, which has been criticised in recent years over high-profile security failings.

But their accession is being blocked by a number of member states who have raised fears it would prove a boon to organised criminal gangs operating in the two countries.

Romanian ministers have complained they are being passed around the various EU capitals, with each member state blaming another for blocking the country from joining Schengen.

Victor Negrescu blasted: “We simply have to take a decision. Everyone tells us that we should discuss with another country, and we don't know with whom to discuss. We don't know why we should not be there."

He said his country expected to have a “very frank discussion” with other member states about its accession next year, adding that “maybe a vote should happen”, according to EU Observer.

He pointed to Austria’s six-month stint as the host of the EU presidency, in the second half of 2018, as “an excellent occasion to put the issue on the table” and “a moment when a decision should be taken”.

In his State of the Union speech, delivered in September, EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Romania and Bulgaria should join the borderless zone “immediately”.

If you are an EU national, you do not need to show your national ID card or passport when you are travelling from one border-free Schengen EU country to another. The Schengen Area is an area comprising 26 European states that have officially abolished passport and any other type of border control at their mutual borders.

But officials from the two countries feel that their progression is being held back by Western countries who fear a mass relocation of businesses to Europe’s two lowest cost economies.

One official noted the pair’s accession was a “very sensitive issue” for some countries and that there was a "certain reluctance" from other member states to "open up".

It currently takes up to a week to transport goods produced in Romania to Germany, but if the country were in Schengen that time scale would be cut to just 20 hours.

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https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...zone-next-year

[War Chef]

Uh oh, gypsy swarm in 3, 2, 1.....

[MellowD]

Uh oh, gypsy swarm in 3, 2, 1.....

Schengen has nothing to do with gypsies, they can shit all over Europe without it. Romania and Bulgaria are not accepted due to their ports Constanta and Varna which means competition for the westerners.

[Mingle]

Romania and Bulgaria are not accepted due to their ports Constanta and Varna which means competition for the westerners.

They're about to get accepted though. Did Westerners suddenly stop seeing Romania and Bulgaria as competition?

[MellowD]

They're about to get accepted though. Did Westerners suddenly stop seeing Romania and Bulgaria as competition?

Yeah, they are about to get accepted since 2011... not gonna happen soon.

[Mingle]

Yeah, they are about to get accepted since 2011... not gonna happen soon.

The Baltics, Greece, and Slovenia all have coasts and are not the richest countries in the EU but they are part of Schengen. I don't see why Romania and Bulgaria are so special. I think the main opposition to it are people that don't want Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants. But I have a feeling that the EU will accept Romania and Bulgaria now, especially when trying to further unite the EU.