On Tuesday 18 October 2022, members of the European Parliament urged member states of the European Union to “end discrimination” and “admit Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen”.
They claim that these countries have long met the requirements to enter the Schengen Area, and not allowing them to do it is discriminatory at this point. Moreover, they argue that Romania and Bulgaria’s exclusion from the Schengen Area is detrimental to the EU Single Market because it forbids the free movement of mobile workers and the free flow of goods from freight ports in both countries, obstructing imports and exports.
In a resolution, members of the European Parliament noted that the Schengen Area is one of the greatest achievements of the European Union”, but disapproved of the Council’s postponement of the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania.
All member states of the European Union are part of the Schengen Area, except for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, and Romania. Non-EU states such as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein are part of the Schengen Area, too.
The addition of countries to the Schengen Area requires a unanimous decision by the Council of the European Union, so members of the European Parliament requested the Council to take action on this matter by the end of 2022.
The resolution is the result of a plenary debate that took place on 5 October 2022 in Strasbourg, France, one of the four main capitals of the European Union.
The resolution was adopted with 547 votes in favor, 49 votes against, and 43 abstaining, so if the Council agrees, internal border controls in Romania and Bulgaria should be removed at the beginning of next year.
This is not the first time that members of the European Parliament demanded the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen Area. Members of the European Parliament have requested this in a 2018 resolution titled “Full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in Bulgaria and Romania”, in a 2020 resolution titled “European Parliament resolution of 19 June 2020 on the situation in the Schengen area following the COVID‑19 outbreak”, and in the 2021 annual report on the functioning of the Schengen Area.
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