France: Bulgaria, Romania Must 'Take Time' to Join Schengen 'Eventually'

French European Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez and German Minister of State Werner Hoyer (R) at the start of a European general affairs council in Brussels, Belgium 22 Nov. EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria and Romania must take as much time as they need in order to get 100% ready for joining the Schengen Area, according to French EU Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez.

In an interview for the leading French newspaper Le Figaro, Wauquiez explains France's position that Bulgaria and Romania need to really fix their corruption and organized crime problems before they can join the borderless Schengen zone.

"Bulgaria and Romania are eventually destined to enter the Schengen area. They have both done major efforts. But should they be forced to march forward for political reasons? Such a decision has serious consequences, affecting our internal security. If Bulgaria and Romania join Schengen, their borders become ours. This raises two issues that require a real European debate. One refers to the control of migration flows: 75% of the illegal immigration into Europe comes through the southeastern part of the EU. The other relates to organized crime: drug trafficking and weapons," the French EU Minister declared.

He recognizes that Bulgaria and Romania have purchased new equipment for border control but questions if that is sufficient for efficient safeguarding of the external Schengen Area borders mentioning other factors of potential concern such as the recent decrease of the salaries of Romanian border policemen and customs officers by 40%.

Wauquiez argues in favor of the position expressed by the foreign ministers of France and Germany in a letter to the European Commission earlier this week of tying Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen accession to general progress on tacking corruption and organized crime, which is monitoring by the Commission under the post-accession Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.

"Beyond the technical aspects, have both countries managed to eradicate corruption and crime? A European Commission report highlights persistent weaknesses (Wauquiez refers to the EC annual monitoring report from July 2010 – editor's note). Schengen works with a hypersensitive. If it fell into the hands of organized crime, it would be a real flaw in our defense and security in Europe," the French EU Affairs Minister says.

He further argues that it is in Bulgaria and Romania's best interest to join Schengen when they are truly ready because if they joined unprepared, this would hurt their image and the trust the other EU states have for them.

"If these two countries are ready in a year, it suits us. But if they are ready in three years it will be in three years. It's even in the interests of Bucharest and Sofia, because if they join without being ready, this will affect their image and credibility," Wauquiez states. "I understand perfectly. These are very delicate issues for these countries. They understood that the door was not closed them. But that door will open only when we are sure not to take a squall!"

He proposes the setting up a large, EU-wide working group to help Bulgaria and Romania tackle their issues on their way to Schengen accession.

The French EU Affairs Minister refutes the allegations that France's opposition to the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania is a punishment for the "Roma issue" - having to do with France's campaign over summer and fall to expel Bulgarian and Romanian Roma squatters it considered a public safety hazard.

At the same time, however, Wauquiez is convinced that Bulgaria and Romania were ready to join the EU when they were admitted back in 2007. He does underscore the fact that "additional" stages of further European integration such as the Schengen accession have to be based on solid and objective evidence.

The Bulgarian government has reacted to the motion of France and Germany by saying it will take any additional time to fix and problems, and by pointing out that Bulgaria will have met fully the technical requirements for Schengen accession by March 2010 - the date it originally hoped to join Schengen.

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