The file regarding Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area is on the agenda of the JHA Council on Thursday, despite the opposition of Austria, which would have wanted Romania and Bulgaria out and Croatia in.
The agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council is set in the COREPER 2 format, with a vote on the accession of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria to be given on Thursday. The decision regarding the possible accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the package, or the separation of the files of the two countries, will be taken tomorrow, also by vote, in the JHA Council, around lunchtime.
“Good news: the vote on Romania’s accession to the Schengen area is on the agenda of the Justice and Internal Affairs Council tomorrow. In recent months, Romania has been open and worked closely with the European institutions and the authorities in Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria. We answered all concerns and proved that our country deserves to be in Schengen. We convinced Sweden and the Netherlands to reverse their vote and support us. We continue to work closely with the Austrian authorities. We continue the work to obtain as soon as possible a positive result regarding the accession of our country with full rights to the Schengen area”, wrote PNL MEP Siegfried Mureșan on Facebook.
Romania will ask for a vote on Schengen accession on Thursday, because “the state of uncertainty cannot continue”, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă had announced earlier today.