Dutch lawmakers ask for more investigations before accepting Romania, Bulgaria as Schengen members

The Dutch lawmakers adopted on October 20 a resolution asking the Government "not to take irreversible steps" regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area until it carries out "further investigations into the border surveillance and about the decline in corruption and organized crime in both countries."

They argue that the current investigations carried out by a team of EU experts on the rule of law, corruption and organized crime in the two countries "are of a limited scope" and consequently instruct the Dutch Government to carry out supplementary investigations on their own, G4media.ro reported.

Romanian prime minister Nicolae Ciuca expressed moderate concern regarding the vote in the Dutch Parliament, reminding that the Romanian authorities have invited the Dutch experts to conduct on-site investigations on the aspects that they find problematic. He confirmed that all the requirements outlined for Schengen membership were met, according to Profit.ro.

The outcome of the European mission having visited Romania recently on the Schengen bid was positive, PM Ciuca assured.

The European Parliament adopted, on October 17, with a large majority, a non-legislative resolution in which it asks the Council of the European Union to take all the necessary measures by the end of 2022 to adopt the decision regarding the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area of ​​free movement. Expanding the Schengen area requires a unanimous decision of the EU Council.

Currently, among the EU member countries, only Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania are not part of the Schengen area, which also includes states that are not members of the EU bloc (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

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