MEP Victor Negrescu, who initiated the #RomaniaCereSchengen and #RomaniMerităinSchengen campaigns, presented three scenarios regarding Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area.

Romania’s representative in the European Parliament has intensified contacts with Dutch MPs and decision-makers in recent weeks to convince them to support Romania’s objective, urging them to initiate a new resolution in the Dutch Parliament to support our country’s accession to the free movement area.

Earlier, in a non-legislative resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority, the European Parliament stated that by the end of 2022, the Council should take all necessary steps to adopt the decision on the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area of free movement. According to MEPs, this should ensure the abolition of controls on persons at all internal borders for both Member States in the first part of 2023.

According to information obtained by Victor Negrescu from them, the three scenarios include the following details:

The first scenario predicts a vote for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area within the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 8-9 December.

The MEP said that the Netherlands would vote in favour of accession, if it remained the last country that does not have a clear position, but by imposing conditions, namely that the European should establish a special monitoring mechanism, based on which part of the rights specific to the Schengen Area could be suspended if certain provisions were violated.

Victor Negrescu anticipates that these conditionalities are likely to be supported by other member states.

“The abstention scenario is still being evaluated, but the Dutch government perceives abstention as a defeat they cannot afford in the current context,” the MEP said.

The second scenario: according to the information provided to Victor Negrescu by the Dutch MPs, the vote is to be rescheduled for an extraordinary session, which may even take place later this year, to await the conclusions of the latest CVM report and the opinion of the Venice Commission on the Justice Laws, including the decoupling of Bulgaria from Romania.

In this case, the Romanian MEP believes that “our country’s entry into the Schengen Area is still subject to criteria that have nothing to do with the Schengen acquis.”

The third scenario assumes that a decision on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area could be rescheduled for next year, after the completion of the provincial elections in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in March 2023.

“An uncertain scenario, which raises many questions, given that a decision on Croatia’s entry into the Schengen Area is to be taken by the end of this year. Moreover, the latest polls show a decline in the popularity of the parties in power in the Netherlands and a possible defeat could precipitate the fall of the government”, said the MEP.

Victor Negrescu underlined that these working scenarios may change depending on political and electoral developments in the Netherlands.

The MEP reiterated his call for unity and responsibility to all political forces in Romania in order to achieve this important goal for our country and invited them to get more involved in this regard, considering that a non-combat position would be disadvantageous for Romania.