The Romanian MEP participated in the works of the the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee, that unanimously approved, on the 27th of June, a new resolution in which the European legislative condemns in the strongest terms the veto applied to Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and calls for the identification of concrete solutions and steps to remedy this situation.

The #RomaniaCereSchengen petition, initiated in 2015 by MEP Victor Negrescu and supported by more than 50,000 people, provided a basis for this resolution.

Through his proposals, the Romanian representative in the European Parliament strengthened the text of the resolution, the included items referring to:

– mentioning the #RomaniaCereSchengen petition initiated together with PES activists Romania and approved by the European legislature in 2015 – point included in the preamble of the resolution;

– highlighting the fact that the veto applied against Romania can lead to anti-European feelings, with citizens feeling discriminated against – point included in the recital of the resolution, letter E;

– highlighting the fact that the Council’s decision of 8 December was adopted without legal justification – point included in paragraph 2;

– the fact that the refusal to accept Romania into the Schengen area leads to a violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as regards dignity, the right to liberty and security, equality, protection of the environment, freedom of movement and residence – paragraph 4;

– a request to the European Commission to examine alternative legal solutions leading to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the area of free movement – point included in paragraph 11, asking the Commission to examine all possible procedures to protect the freedom of movement of Romanian citizens;

– to examine the possibility of challenging the veto before the EU Court of Justice by the European Parliament – point included in paragraph 12 which underlines the need to analyse current and possible future actions before the EU Court of Justice.

The resolution is due to be adopted in the July plenary session of the European Parliament.