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Will the Schengen Zone survive

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Have any member got any thoughts as to the present position and how the whole situation will affect Bulgaria especially where travel is concerned

Should the UK stay in the European Union or opt to leave

This is so devastating and horrid, the French people have sadly been failed by their intelligence agencies. And once the initial shock settles, they need to demand answers and stop aligning themselves to the UK and US and our horrid international policies. Until our government, who are far removed from this and not affected like 'we the people' are, change their international polices towards I S and their sympathizers, the only safe place to be is in our homes, locked behind our gates and doors. The safety of you and your loved ones, is your responsibility and clearly not that of the governments, because if they could fail the French Parisians then they can fail us all.

A one size fits all Europe simply does not work. What is Germany's interest may not be in Italy's or the UK's. It is ridiculous to continue to insist that European laws have to be imposed when, at times, they have a detrimental impact on the country in question. A fine example? A border free Europe. Look where a board free Europe has got us.

I see the EU are still standing by their policy of allowing people to come into Europe from the war zones even though it is quite clear that they haven't got the first clue as to who they are allowing in. No wonder more people are wanting to exit the EU now, it's not just our sovereignty at stake by remaining in the EU, it's our safety as well.

Britain won't do anything with Cameron at the helm. We won't even get a truthful balanced argument for and against leaving the EU. Cameron won't get any concession worth having in his renegotiated deal. The whole thing is a sham.

Karona wrote:

Britain won't do anything with Cameron at the helm. We won't even get a truthful balanced argument for and against leaving the EU. Cameron won't get any concession worth having in his renegotiated deal. The whole thing is a sham.

It not my intentions to turn this topic into a political debate, but if Cameron is not the right person at the helm, who would be and why?

My understanding is, I might be wrong, but at least 1 of the terrorists was born in france, so how do you propose to stop that

The only way to renegotiate our position in the EU is via treaty change. Cameron has not asked for treaty change and has been told that he wouldn't get it if he did. Ergo, Cameron has not entered into "renegotiation" at all. He has simply lied to us all tet again. The British people are not the only one's who've had enough of this anti-democratic, oppressive political project. EUroscepticism is the fastest growing political movement across the whole empire. The EU's days are numbered and we need to jump ship before it implodes.

Looks like its happening ?

EU to step up controls at external borders, revise Schengen rules to do so

At a special meeting on responses to the Paris terrorist attacks, European Union interior and justice ministers have agreed that controls at the bloc’s external borders should be stepped up, with EU citizens to be among those subject to “systematic and coordinated checks”.

The ministers are asking the European Commission to present a proposal on revising the Schengen rules accordingly.

Along with other measures agreed to at the November 20 meeting, EU ministers want the changes brought into effect “as soon as possible”.

The Schengen visa zone includes 22 out of 28 EU member states as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. EU member states that are not part of the Schengen zone are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the UK.

Currently, EU nationals entering or leaving the Schengen zone are subject only to minimum checks to confirm their identities on the basis of travel documents. More extensive checking is done only on a random basis.

The new proposal is expected to tighten controls so that documents of EU citizens are systematically checked against criminal and security databases.

The concept behind the change is to enable checking for EU passport-holders who are returning from Middle East conflicts and those who are potential jihadists.

Before the meeting, France’s prime minister Manuel Valls said that some of the culprits in the Paris attacks had taken advantage of the EU’s liberal borders to enter Europe, and he added the Schengen zone would be in danger if EU leaders did not make an effort to improve border security.

France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve told a media conference after the ministers’ meeting that his country would maintain the border controls it established on November 13 “as long as the terrorist threat makes it necessary”.

The ministers agreed to upgrade the Schengen member states’ border control systems (electronic connection to the relevant Interpol databases at all external border crossing points, automatic screening of travel documents) by March 2016.

The EU countries agreed, in the context of the current migration crisis, to carry out a systematic registration, including fingerprinting, of third country nationals illegally entering the Schengen area, whether migrants or applicants for international protection, and perform systematic security checks by using relevant databases.

EU police agency Europol will deploy “guest officers” to the hotspots in support of the screening process, in particular by reinforcing secondary security controls.

The meeting agreed to strengthen the control at the external borders which are most exposed, in particular by deploying, when the situation so requires, rapid border intervention teams (RABITs) and police officers in order to ensure systematic screening and security checks.

There was a strong emphasis on information-sharing by the agencies of member states about suspected terrorist foreign fighters, inputting this into the Schengen Information System, among other steps.

The ministers also agreed on the “urgency and priority” to finalise an ambitious EU Passenger Name Record agreement before the end of 2015, which should include internal flights in its scope, provide for a sufficiently long data period during which PNR data can be retained in non-masked-out form and should not be limited to crimes of a transnational nature.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that data retention of PNR should be one year, not one month.

The interior and justice ministers are calling on the European Commission to present proposals to strengthen, harmonise and improve the powers of, and the cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units and ensure their fast access to necessary information, “in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in conformity with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, to strengthen controls of non-banking payment methods such as electronic/anonymous payments, money remittances, cash-carriers, virtual currencies, transfers of gold or precious metals and pre-paid cards in line with the risk they present and to curb more effectively the illicit trade in cultural goods”.

The ministers committed their countries to ensuring swift and effective freezing of terrorist assets throughout the Union, whether through autonomous EU decisions or in compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions.

UK PM Cameron met with Bulgarian President (ROUNDUP)

4 December 2015 | 04:21 | FOCUS News Agency


Sofia. It is in the vital interest of all EU member states the UK to remain a part of the European project. If the UK leaves it will be lose-lose for everyone. That is what President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, stated after a meeting with Prime Minister of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Cameron, who is on an official visit to Bulgaria, the press service of the head of state announced.
This is the first official visit of a British prime minister in Bulgaria since 1999.
During the meeting David Cameron noted that Bulgaria has achieved good results in fiscal discipline, economic growth and strong will to reforms.
The Bulgarian head of state and the British Prime Minister urged for an open and constructive dialog within the EU to discuss the UK’s proposals for reforms.
“The United Kingdom wants to be part of a reformed European Union which is effective and completive,” David Cameron stated.
The two top officials shared opinion that that the measures and initiatives within the eurozone should not lead to fragmentation of the Single European Market.
According to the Bulgarian head of state the completion of the Single Market and integration of services, digital sector and energy in it would help to increase growth, would create jobs and improve the competitiveness of the European economy in a rapidly globalising world.
Rosen Plevneliev outlined that the European Union should not allow deepening differences in the development stage of different regions. In this regard, he called on leaving the budget for cohesion policy untouched.
“We should not allow limitation of one of the basic rights of the European citizens – the right to free movement and job opportunities within the EU,” the President noted.
According to Rosen Plevneliev, otherwise, it would be contrary to the fundamental principles on which the united Europe was built and would create a real risk of further deepening of differences between member states.
Topics discussed during a meeting between Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister of United Kingdom, David Cameron, also included fight against international terrorism and dealing with high migratory pressure, the press service of the head of state announced.
The Bulgarian Head of State again called on EU countries to address the root causes of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and not to wait for the development of a crisis in order to proceed finding a solution.
“Overcoming this crisis requires action by both the EU and cooperation with countries of the conflict,” the President said.
Rosen Plevneliev and David Cameron expressed support for the agreement reached between the EU and Turkey to limit the migration pressure to Europe.
“Bulgaria is a good example of effective control of the EU external borders,” Prime Minister Cameron said.
Bulgarian President Plevneliev stressed that our country would continue guarding the external borders of the EU in accordance with EU rules and registering migrants entering the Bulgarian territory.
“Bulgaria also meets the commitments taken in Wales. The country adopted a new programme for the modernisation of the Bulgarian Army. In 2016 the country will increase the defence budget to 1.35% of GDP, as the funds will gradually increase until reaching 2% of GDP in the coming years,” President Plevneliev said.
British Prime Minister added that all NATO countries should adhere to the Wales commitments.
During the meeting the Bulgarian Head of State extended an official invitation to Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II to visit Bulgaria

I don't believe this will ever happen Cameron chats a load of S**t and he only speaks like this to gain voters, he's already been told he has no chance of renegotiating and now he thinks he can persuade people to leave??? I don't think so!! he needs to keep off the drink