Bulgarian MPs Head to Brussels to Talk Schengen

A delegation of Bulgarian MPs is to arrive to Brussels Monday in order to discuss the country's possible Schengen entry with MEPs.

The visit will consist of talks with Bulgarian MEPs and rapporteurs on the Schengen Agreement's enlargement, according to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency. The delegation includes members of the country's Parliamentary Commission on European Matters, as well as the Commission on Foreign Policy and Defense.

On Tuesday, the EU Commission for Home Affairs will discuss Bulgaria and Romania's possible Schengen entry. In February, the Commission announced it would be ready with its decision on the two EU newcomers' Schengen preparedness by May 2.

Bulgaria has now covered all Schengen criteria after the Working Group on Schengen Matters (Sch-Eval) evaluated positively its technical preparedness to join the borderless zone. After an inspection at the Bulgarian-Turkish border in March, the Schengen working group has decided that Bulgaria meets all technical requirements for land border control. It was the final technical inspection on Bulgaria's readiness to join the Agreement.

The next step is the vote in the European Parliament on its position on Bulgaria's Schengen accession expected to be made on April 12. In late April and early May the report on Bulgaria's technical preparedness for Schengen membership will also be adopted.

Now that the technical criteria have been met, Bulgaria and Romania are supposed to overcome the political objections to their Schengen accession of France and Germany and some other EU member states who have demanded greater results from Bulgaria in fighting crime and corruption – even though those requirements are not technically part of the Schengen process.

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