Ambassador: The Netherlands opposes Romania’s Schengen accession

The Dutch Parliament does not support at this moment Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, according to Matthijs van Bonzel, the Dutch Ambassador to Romania. The reason is that Romania has failed to implement some of the initial requirements to become a member state of the European Union. “Romania wasn’t ready for accession. It was prepared from many points of view but, but not the essential ones. I’m talking about legislation, the judicial system and its functioning, about efficiency and fairness in the application of laws, and institutional corruption,” the Ambassador said in an interview for local Romania TV, reports Mediafax. The diplomat noted that there is a connection between Schengen and meeting the EU standards. “The connection is this one: once you become a member of the EU you meet all the requirements imposed by this status. Maybe not all countries respect them in practice but at least they try to do their best in order to show that the situation is under control. Romania has acceded without fulfilling these requirements but is now recovering, reaching the level at which it was supposed to be in 2007," he added. The Ambassador said that, even though the MCV report has shown that Romania made some progress, the country is yet to reach the maximum level. One of the things Romania is yet to meet relates to the rate of illegal wealth confiscations, which currently stays at 10%. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in mid-January that European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker assured him of full support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area. In February this year, Iohannis also talked withFrench President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkelabout Romania’s Schengen accession. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com