[size=85:f2y0ugxn]novinite 17 June 2010

Bulgaria, Romania One Step Closer to Lifting Border Controls

The European Parliament has approved with an overwhelming majority an EU Council decision that both Bulgaria and Romania comply with data security requirements for joining the "
Schengen Information System"
(SIS).

A report by Carlos Coelho (EPP, PT) approving the Council decision, which is the first step towards lifting the border checks, was given the green light with 525 votes in favour, 18 against and 54 abstentions.

A working group asked to verify whether Bulgaria's and Romania's branches of the SIS system ensure satisfactory levels of data protection has reached an overall positive conclusion, thus paving the way for further tests before the end of the year.

The decision aims to pen in a deadline for implementing the regulations regarding the Schengen Information System, which will allow the two countries to provide and extract data from the system under certain limitations.

Currently, Bulgarian citizens are allowed visa-free entry into the Schengen system and there is eased access to Bulgaria for Schengen visa holders, but the country is not a full member of the system.

Bulgaria submitted its formal declaration of readiness in September 2007 and sent European authorities follow-up reports, penning in March 2011 as the target date for accession to the Schengen zone.

The estimates turned meaningless due to a delay in the award of a tender to produce biometric passports and lack of progress on the second generation of the EU's Schengen Information System, more commonly known as SISII.

The 1985 Schengen Agreement is an agreement among most Western and Central European countries which allows for the abolition of systematic border controls between the participating countries.

By the Treaty of Amsterdam, the agreement itself and all decisions having been enacted on its basis had been implemented into the law of the European Union.

I wish things would speed up with lifting the border controls,It's about time that there is ease of passage between two European countries and the bridge in Rousse became a toll bridge when the countries entered the EU. Crazy

joseph wrote:

I wish things would speed up with lifting the border controls,It's about time that there is ease of passage between two European countries and the bridge in Rousse became a toll bridge when the countries entered the EU. Crazy

No not crazy,, just another way to get money from you, and when I tried to pay in Levs coming into BG, She kept my documents
until I found some euro's or Lei. These border people are a special breed of ignorant people, including the arrogant young women
who work in them.

I was just reading through old posts and see it is almost a year since we thought we were one step closer to the border beign lifted. Dream on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found this update

[size=50:2r7fws4i]The Inquirer newspaper
Posted on Thu, Jun. 9, 2011

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EU keeps Bulgaria, Romania out of border zone

RAF CASERT

The Associated Press

LUXEMBOURG - The European Union decided Thursday to keep Bulgaria and Romania out of its borderless travel zone even though the two EU nations have met the required technical standards.

The move by EU interior ministers came amid increasing fears of illegal immigration and crime across the continent and put further pressure on the Schengen system of unfettered travel across 26 European nations.

"
What worries a number of member states is corruption may thrive in these countries and thus can weaken the protection of the borders,"
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said of Romania and Bulgaria. He proposed a system of putting EU officials alongside national border guards as an extra check.

The borderless travel system has already been hurt by Denmark's plan to restore customs checks and a public spat between Italy and France over thousands of Tunisian refugees flooding across the Mediterranean Sea over the past months.

Germany criticized Denmark on Thursday for "
coldly undermining"
one of the cornerstones of EU unity. Along with the establishment of the euro currency, the Schengen zone is seen as one of the most important EU achievements.

"
We are in favor of giving some more flexibility"
to beef up internal border controls within the Schengen zone, said Denmark's Justice Minister Lars Barfoed.

Bulgaria and Romania were given a cold shoulder by the EU ministers only one day after the EU parliament voted that they were ready to join Schengen.

The Netherlands held off on any quick decision for the two, since there still was doubt whether they were strong enough to assure effective control of the external border of the Schengen zone. That doomed the move, which needs unanimity.

"
It is too early to take a decision now, and it may take some time,"
said Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers. "
It is imperative that all adopted judicial reform measures in Romania and Bulgaria are effective and irreversible."


The nations will look at the situation again in September before deciding how to proceed. Schengen membership could easily be pushed back until next year.

With its long coastline, Greece has been the main entry point for most illegal immigration into the EU, and the addition of Bulgaria and Romania would add a whole new Black Sea coast to protect.

The decision Thursday was another blow for closer integration and openness in the EU.

Danish business and tourism representatives complained Thursday the government's plan to restore customs checks along its borders risked isolating the Scandinavian country.

Karsten Dybvad, head of the Confederation of Danish Industry, said it sends a "
signal that we are shutting ourselves in instead of opening."


Barfoed called such comments "
totally nonsense, completely nonsense."


"
People coming to Denmark will hardly notice that we have reinforced customs control. But, of course, if you are a smuggler of weapons or drugs, then you might have a problem."


The Danish plan to reinstall customs control booths is an attempt to meet demands of the government's key ally, the nationalist Danish People's Party.

Opponents say it is a violation of EU free border agreements, and the EU is studying whether the Danish plan is legal.

Jan M. Olsen contributed from Copenhagen

Good post

The reason that they dont wont to open up the borders is due to illegal movement of goods and people etc, the opening of borders is great in theory but does not work in practice. Sad but true


No criteria additional to the technical requirements for entry in the Schengen Area ought to be levied against Bulgaria and Romania, stated Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov Saturday.

Thursday the EU Council decided not to give political approval for the accession of the two countries over concerns related to corruption and organized crime, in spite of acknowledging both had fulfilled the technical criteria.

"
It is improper to introduce criteria other than the technical requirements into force,"
stated the Bulgarian President during his visit in Kyustendil.

On the other hand, Parvanov stressed that there is an ongoing perception in other member states that problems relating to corruption, crime and the judiciary are at a level that presents significant hurdles for Bulgaria's full participation in EU structures.

"
We have not done a good diplomatic job of presenting our Schengen case, and here the two ministers in charge - Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Foreign Affairs Minister Nikolay Mladenov - must assume responsibility,"
said Parvanov.

The Bulgarian President warned that politicians need to work hard to change that perception among European governments and citizens.

dave b wrote:

joseph wrote:

I wish things would speed up with lifting the border controls,It's about time that there is ease of passage between two European countries and the bridge in Rousse became a toll bridge when the countries entered the EU. Crazy

No not crazy,, just another way to get money from you, and when I tried to pay in Levs coming into BG, She kept my documents
until I found some euro's or Lei. These border people are a special breed of ignorant people, including the arrogant young women
who work in them.

i'm surprised you've had trouble crossing the border. i always pay in levs and haven't had any trouble. just shows how strange border crossing can be.

It is all very well having borders where passports are not shown if we lived in the perfect world. But we don't live in a perfect world and never will do, the idea that someone can travel from Bulgaria all the way through to the UK without showing a passport sounds lovely, but in reality it is a complete nonsense. Here in Turkey the Turkish Navy are always stopping boats full of illegal immigrants attempting to get to Greece, they then disappear into Europe and surprise, surprise end up in the UK!! Many boats have sunk off the Turkish coast with illegal immigrants on board and the local press are always printing editorials about the problem. There never seems to be any commonsense with politicians anymore, in the UK or Europe.

:: :: ::

Surely the passport control should be on the outer boundries of the EU and not on the border of two European countries,This is my thought!!

dave b wrote:

No not crazy,, just another way to get money from you, and when I tried to pay in Levs coming into BG, She kept my documents
until I found some euro's or Lei. These border people are a special breed of ignorant people, including the arrogant young women
who work in them.

You hit the nail on the head! if the Romanians can make a few bob out of you even if it makes your life a misery they will.

Nice little earner :Roll laugh:

It is a real pity that both Romania and Bulgaria are always seen as some sort of money making countries but lets face it from my experience and I'm sure I speak for others that is the reality of it and yes they will make what they can at the boarders which unfortunately reflects on the countries as a whole which isn't the case but apart from that its good news.