Schengen Experts Endorse Technical Reports on Bulgaria

The Working Party for Schengen Matters (Sch-Eval) endorsed the technical reports on Bulgaria's readiness to join the borderless Schengen Area on Monday.

The reports concerned Bulgaria's Schengen Information System and the Supplementary Information Request at the National Entry (SIS/SIRENE) and land movement.

Bulgaria has covered the Schengen Accession criteria as far as SIS/SIRENE is concerned, while it has to put additional efforts into dealing with its Turkish border, the Bulgarian National Radio announced, citing anonymous Brussels officials.

The Working Party postponed at the end of January the adoption of two technical reports on Bulgaria, while endorsing the report on Romania's Schengen accession.

Once the group adopts the reports, they will be referred to the EU institutions, which are to make the final decision on whether the country can join the border-free Schengen Area in March 2011.

Another group of Brussels experts are scheduled to visit Bulgaria in March for a final check of its readiness to accede to the border-less zone.

Meanwhile, the EU member states decided last week  to declassify the technical evaluation reports for Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen Accession and to send them to the European Parliament, so that the Parliament will be able to get acquainted with the details.

Until recently, Bulgaria and Romania were hopeful to join Schengen by March 2011, only to be dashed by opposition by member states such as France, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands based on worries that did not have to do with the technical requirements for entry, but rather with alleged problems in the working of judicial and law enforcement organs in the two countries.

The Bulgarian government has reacted to the motion of the Schengen skeptics 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.

Hungary may decide to put this issue on the agenda of the Council of Interior Ministers of the EU, due on February 24, but the decision will most probably be negative. The next deadline to be set for Bulgaria is expected to be November this year.

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