France: Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Entry May Take Years

French European affairs minister Laurent Wauquiez. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria and Romania must take as much time as they need in order to get one hundred percent ready for joining the Schengen Area, which will probably not be just a few months, according to the French EU affairs minister.

"If these two countries are ready in three months, it suits us. But if they are ready in two years their accession will be a fact in two years," Minister Laurent Wauquiez told Radio France International.

Bulgaria and Romania, which have been coupled ever since their joint accession to the European Union in 2007, aim to enter the border-less zone in March this year, claiming that all requirements for it had been met.

Accession is uncertain, however, since a report on the security of Bulgaria's frontier with Turkey was negative.

Minister Laurent Wauquiez did not hesitate to rule out the best case scenario.

"Having in mind the reports that we have received, Bulgaria and Romania will definitely not accede the border-free area in three months, that's for sure," the French minister said, adding that Romania has put in much more efforts.

Wauquiez pointed out that Bulgaria and Romania were major avenues for illegal movement of people and goods.

"This means illegal immigration, weapons smuggling, drug smuggling, and child trafficking," Wauquiez said.

In an interview for the leading French newspaper Le Figaro at the end of December last year Wauquiez explained France's position that Bulgaria and Romania need to really fix their corruption and organized crime problems before they can join the border-less Schengen zone.

He recognized that Bulgaria and Romania have purchased new equipment for border control but questioned 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 argued in favor of the position expressed by the foreign ministers of France and Germany in a letter to the European Commission 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.

He further argued that it is in Bulgaria and Romania's best interest to join Schengen when they are truly ready because otherwise their image and the trust other EU states have for them will be hurt.

He proposed 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 refuted 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 expressed his conviction that Bulgaria and Romania were ready to join the EU when they were admitted back in 2007.

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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