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and Bulgaria blocked from joining Schengen zone
Bulgaria says it will try to allay other nations' concerns Continue reading the main story
EU harmonises Schengen visa rules
Balkan states' travel to EU eased
France and Germany have decided to block Bulgaria and Romania from joining the Europe's passport-free travel zone.

The French and German interior ministers said it was "
premature"
to let them join Schengen in March 2011.

They said Bulgaria and Romania needed to make "
irreversible progress"
in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Romania condemned the decision, while Bulgaria promised to "
do its utmost"
to remove doubts about its membership.

French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and his German counterpart, Thomas de Maiziere, raised their objections in a letter to European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, AFP news agency reported.

Experts from EU states who visited Romania and Bulgaria are due to present a report in January that will be used by governments to make a decision on Romanian and Bulgarian membership, but it must be agreed by the Schengen members in unanimity.

"
Grave consequences"


A spokesman for Germany's interior ministry said there had also been a lack of progress by Romania and Bulgaria in reforming their judiciary, Associated Press news agency reported.

The spokesman said those deficits could have "
grave consequences for the European Union's security"
and raised concerns about an "
overly swift"
adhesion to the Schengen area.

Romanian President Traian Basescu said: "
I believe that the Franco-German letter sent to the European Commission is an act of discrimination against Romania."


Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vessela Tcherneva told AFP: "
We are aware that the political situation in some EU member countries is complicated. For that reason, we will do our utmost to remove any doubts, including in the areas of the judicial system and society as a whole."

The Schengen zone is made up of 25 European countries - the 27 EU members, minus the UK, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus;
plus three non-EU nations - Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

The European Union has dashed the hopes of Bulgaria and Romania to join passport-free zone, saying there is no consensus on letting them in.

"
There will be no vote, and no decision"
at talks on their bid to join due to be held Thursday in Brussels, a source in the EU's current Irish presidency said, as cited by AFP.

The talks will gather the bloc's 27 interior ministers and those of four non-EU nations also in the so-called Schengen zone -- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

"
There is no consensus for now"
to expand the Schengen area to Romania and Bulgaria as "
several nations have reserves or concerns,"
said the Irish source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Joining the passport-free area requires a unanimous vote from its current 26 members. Of the 27 EU states, Britain, Cyprus and Ireland have not applied to join.
[size=85:15m5detb]Novinite 7/03/2013

Latest situation and viewpoints, May 12th Election Day
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Source Novinite news Sept 2015

Express: Romania, Bulgaria to Use Migrant Crisis to Gain Free Movement in EU - Romania and Bulgaria are planning to use the migrant crisis, trading their approval of quotas for access to the Schengen borderless area, the Daily Express has claimed.

Citing an agreement between the two respective PMs, Boyko Borisov and Victor Ponta ahead of a meeting of EU interior and justice ministers, a report reads that both believe their countries should be granted access to Schengen as part of the response to the migrant crisis.

"Schengen is as essential to Europe as the Economic and Monetary Union is," the daily quotes Bulgaria's Deputy PM Meglena Kuneva as saying.

Even though the Bulgarian official reportedly pointed to the dropped resistance of member states to accepting Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen.

See more at:

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I wonder what impact Britain coming out of the EU will have regarding the Schengen zone ??????

Being as Britain is not part of the zone, I can't see it having any impact at all.

justbazz wrote:

Being as Britain is not part of the zone, I can't see it having any impact at all.

As stated by Baz it won't make any difference at all as GB isn't part of the agreement.

A question, If the UK come out of the European Union does that mean that to get a job here, one would need a work permit. If it did there would not be any football teams in the Premier league

willowsend wrote:

A question, If the UK come out of the European Union does that mean that to get a job here, one would need a work permit. If it did there would not be any football teams in the Premier league

You fancy yourself chasing a football around the field than Willow

At present British citizens can easily move to another EU country, with citizens of EU countries equally free to move to the UK. There are 1.73 million EU nationals living in the UK, 79 percent of whom are in employment, according to the April-June 2014

If Britain were to ‘Brexit’ as it were, the worst case scenario see UK citizens having to satisfy more restrictive rules on getting a work permit, setting up a business, studying and bringing family members to join them in EU member states. While it’s of course true that the British government could potentially negotiate trade pacts – half of UK trade is within the EU – and lenient borders, it’s likely that a bruised EU would put up some resistance. Britons living abroad for over 15 years will not be entitled to vote in the referendum, meaning that the Britons most affected by the outcome will not be able to have their say. If British nationals were able to remain resident in their chosen countries, they would most likely have to renegotiate deals on health care and insurance. 624,000 people immigrated to the UK in the year to September 2014, the majority of which – 292,000 – came from outside the EU and would already have been subject to complex visa restrictions. Some 251,000 people moved to Britain under the EU’s looser free movement rules, an increase of 43,000 over the previous 12 months. It’s still unclear how the latter group would be treated if Britain were to leave the EU. Many are saying that Britain may leave its borders open in exchange for access to the open market. However, until such an agreement could be negotiated, UK immigration would have to rely on British national law, making moving to the UK considerably harder than it is currently. It’s likely that British immigration controls could then ‘cherry-pick’ its immigrants, giving preference perhaps to say French and German immigrants, with Romanians and Bulgarians getting a far shoddier deal. If borders are reinstated, the boundary between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland would become the most permeable entry point into the UK. Reinstating passport controls at the Northern Irish border would be distressingly analogous to its troubled recent past.
The future of course remains to be seen, and the onus lies on the British voter to make the final decision. The next two years will be ones to watch.

Andy. Very interesting reading and grateful for your views and information

S&D Group President: Romania and Bulgaria are Ready to Join Schengen

Politics » DEFENSE | December 14, 2017, Thursday

Bulgaria: S&D Group President: Romania and Bulgaria are Ready to Join SchengenAviationCableNet  

Romania and Bulgaria should join the Schengen area “as soon as possible” as they meet the relevant criteria, according to Gianni Pittella, president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D Group) in the European Parliament, according to Romania Insider.

The S&D MEPs called for Bulgaria and Romania to be admitted to the Schengen passport-free area during a debate requested by the S&D Group in the European Parliament on strengthening the Schengen area.

“Romania and Bulgaria are ready to join and we will continue to press member states to
stop blocking their accession. We wrote to President Tusk to urge him to act on this, but so far his response has been vague and elusive. We cannot accept this. President Tusk and the Council must stop postponing matters due to selfish national interests and let Romania and Bulgaria join immediately. Europe must stand by its promises,” Pittella said.

The S&D Group president also said that Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia “are already successfully protecting the EU’s South Eastern borders,” and “their entry into Schengen could boost Europe’s economy by facilitating easier access to some of Europe’s biggest southern freight ports.”

He also stated that the Schengen area is “the largest free travel area in the world and one of the biggest achievements of the European Union.”

“It makes citizens’ lives easier, boosts our economies and enhances mutual trust and security cooperation between its members.”

The European Commission officially asked the European leaders to accept Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area at the end of September. At that time, the EC argued that both countries have demonstrated their capacity to defend EU’s borders.

Comment

James Whitehead

They must be mad to let Europe's most corrupt country join Schengen.

Who is this James Whitehead character?

He seems to spend his time writing drivel on various fora and never has a good word to say about anything.