Will the Schengen area expand? The answer should be known this Thursday. The European Ministers of the Interior must indeed decide on this question: the integration of Croatia seems probable but obstacles persist for Bulgaria and Romania.
The European Commission, like the Parliament, has long called for the three countries to be included in this vast zone within which more than 400 million people can travel freely, without internal border controls. One of the effects of accession would be to eliminate the long queues of vehicles at the borders of these countries and to encourage tourism. In return, the Schengen member countries must assume rigorous control of the external borders of this area of free movement, and commit to police cooperation to fight against organized crime or terrorism.
The reluctance of Austria and the Netherlands
Croatia (3.9 million inhabitants), member of the EU since 2013 and which will join the euro zone next January, expects a positive response, barring any surprises. But Romania (19 million inhabitants) and Bulgaria (6.5 million), which entered the EU in 2007 and which have been knocking on the door of Schengen for more than ten years, are faced with the reluctance of certain States. However, the unanimity of the 26 members of this area (22 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) is necessary.
Austria, which is facing an influx of asylum seekers, opposes the lifting of border controls with these two countries, believing that it would accentuate the increase in the arrival of migrants. The Netherlands have reservations about Bulgaria, questioning corruption in this country. However, the membership files of the two former communist countries are linked in the same procedure.
The Balkan route in the sights of Frontex
The question of the enlargement of the Schengen area is back on the table as irregular arrivals at the EU’s external borders are on the rise, after having seen a drop during the Covid-19 pandemic. The surge is particularly marked by the Western Balkan route, where some 139,500 irregular entries into the EU have been detected since January, according to Frontex. A figure, however, far from the 764,000 entries recorded in 2015, at the time of the refugee crisis.
The situation has notably led Austria and the Czech Republic to reintroduce border controls. It also pushed the European Commission to present an action plan to try to reduce the influx by this route, as it did recently for the central Mediterranean route. Brussels proposes, among other things, to deploy the European agency Frontex not only at the EU’s borders with the Western Balkans but also between these countries.