For the benefit of those who missed the news, the European Commission has welcomed the unanimous decision by the Council to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area.
The process of Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen will start with the lifting of controls at air and sea borders in March 2024.
As for land borders, it is not yet known when the controls will end. Regarding this issue, the European Commission has said:
“Discussions on a date for a possible lifting of the checks on persons at internal land borders will continue in 2024 and a decision by the Council on this matter is expected to be taken within a reasonable time frame.”
The lack of a date for the end of land border controls has predictably irked hauliers in both countries, who have been grappling with costly delays at Schengen borders for years.
Asked for reaction regarding the developments, Hristo Hristov, CEO of Bulgarian road transport company Discordia, told Trans.INFO:
“Overall, this initiative represents a positive step forward, and we are pleased to endorse it. However, a significant concern arises from the lack of established deadlines or clear expectations regarding the timeline for its full implementation, and by then our industry and many others will have suffered even more as the 5 conditions set are linked to increased controls at the Bulgarian-Romanian and Romanian-Hungarian borders. This means further delays.”
Elaborating on these delays, Hristov added:
“For instance, in October and November the waiting time at the Bulgarian-Romanian border at Vidin is between 9 and 12 hours, which is almost the entire working time of the driver, and on some days the queue reaches 24 hours. For the same period at the Romanian-Hungarian border at Nadlac, the waiting time is 4-5 hours, costing the driver about half a working day. These prolonged delays not only lead to significant losses for our industry but also adversely impact the end-users. Moreover, these conditions place Bulgaria at a competitive disadvantage in terms of attracting foreign investments and in the competitiveness of its export-oriented industries. Worst of all, the long waiting times and inhumane working conditions for international drivers are completely at odds with the objectives of the Mobility Package.”
Over in Romania, the reaction among hauliers has been similar.
In a recent statement, the UNTRR, Romania’s largest haulage association, described the need to end land border controls as an “emergency” for road carriers. The association stresses that the efficiency of Romania’s hauliers is being “severely penalised by extremely long waiting times”.
According to the UNTRR, the cost of these delays really does add up. The haulage association claims that the administrative and logistical barriers of being outside Schengen is costing the road transport industry collective losses of 2.41 billion Euros.
In light of this, Radu Dinescu, UNTRR General Secretary, has called for clarity regarding the date that land border controls shall end:
“We request the urgent establishment of a fixed date for Romania’s entry into Schengen and with the land borders, and if there are special requirements these should be clearly mentioned in order to have an accurate reference system regarding the accession calendar and the objectives to be achieved. The criteria that the other members of the EU club want Romania and Bulgaria to fulfil must not exceed the general framework and the technical conditions for access to the Schengen area.”
Despite the wishes of Romania and Bulgaria for full Schengen accession to happen quickly, political barriers could prove difficult to overcome in the short term.
Numerous European nations have begun to conduct controls at Schengen land borders in an attempt to combat illegal migration, and there may be fears that Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to Schengen could exacerbate the problem.
Recent years have seen many migrants stopped at the Bulgaria/Romania and Romania/Hungary border, often hiding within commercial vehicles.
According to data from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, 2023 saw a significant rise in the number of irregular border crossings, which increased by 17% in the first 11 months to reach over 355,300. By mid-December, the number had already surpassed the entire total for 2022, marking the highest value recorded since 2016.
Photo: MrSilesian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons