The Netherlands government has sent an evaluation mission to Romania in order to verify the country’s readiness for the latter’s accession to the Schengen Zone, a G4 Media report revealed.
The same source noted that the mission is made up of experts and will last until the end of this week, while it has also been emphasised that it follows a similar mission as the mission carried out by experts of the EU, which stressed that Romania meets all the conditions in order for becoming a member of the borderless area of Schengen Zone, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Previously, the European Commission urged the Council to finalise this process and permit these three countries to become part of the Schengen Zone.
However, last month, in Amsterdam, some lawmakers presented a resolution calling on the country’s authorities not to take irreversible steps regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area until additional investigations into border surveillance are carried out, among others.
But the Commission has a different opinion. On November 16, the Commission of the EU once again stressed that the three Balkan countries: Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, are ready to become the newest members of Schengen.
“Becoming fully part of the Schengen area is a requirement for these Member States, and they should therefore be permitted to do so given that they fulfil the conditions,” the Commission pointed out through a statement in this regard.
The Commission urged authorities in the Netherlands to give the green light to Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Zone.
The Commission emphasised that there is no reason to further delay the finalisation of this process.
Previously, Members of the European Parliament called on EU states to permit the accession of Romania to the Schengen Area without further delay.
MEPs said that the Council should adopt a decision regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the borderless area by the end of 2022 and ensure the lifting of controls at all internal borders in the next year.
“MEPs criticise the Council’s failure to take a decision on admitting Bulgaria and Romania, even though the two countries have long since fulfilled the necessary conditions. Maintaining internal border controls is discriminatory and has a serious impact on the lives of mobile workers and citizens,” the EU Parliament pointed out.
Even though Romania and Bulgaria have met all the technical conditions since 2011, both countries are still waiting for such a process to be finalised.
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