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What changes for travellers after Romania and Bulgaria partly join Schengen?

On 31 March, Romania and Bulgaria partly join the Schengen area. Only partly because just air and sea border checks will be lifted, while road and rail checks will remain in place, un unprecedented process in the history of the EU.

1. Passports

Until 31 March, travellers between Romania, Bulgaria and other Schengen Member States will still need to show a passport, or just national ID if it is issued by an EU country, at all border checks. As of April however, those travelling by air or sea, meaning on flights, cruises or ferries, between the two countries and the rest of the Schengen area will not have their passports or IDs checked.

People travelling by road or rail however, be it on personal vehicles, buses or by train, will still need to show a valid passport or European ID when crossing the border. “A new decision will have to be taken in order to set a date for the lifting of controls at land borders”, the European Council said in December when it announced the first measure.

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”. What that means however is unclear, as “reasonable time frames” have been offered for years regarding the two countries joining Schengen.

2. Schengen

The Schengen area comprises 27 countries and extends over 4 million square kilometres with a population of almost 420 million people. With Romania and Bulgaria, the Schengen area will grow to 4.5 million square kilometres with a population of 450 million.

Bulgaria and Romania’s ascension to Schengen has been vetoed by The Netherlands for several years and, most recently, by Austria, over worries the two countries would not sufficiently protect the area’s borders from migrants. According to the Financial Times, to nudge the Austrian government into a favourable decision, Romania threatened to sue it for several billion euros, as well as threatening to delay Austrian energy company OMV’s gas drilling project in the Black Sea.

Over the past few years, Austria has re-introduced land border controls with Hungary, Slovenia and Italy, in an increasingly observed move towards closing down rather than opening up, which has prompted worries that Schengen might be disappearing.

 

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Source TravelTomorrow