Romanian President Traian Basescu lashed out at a decision by France and Germany yesterday (21 December) to postpone his country’s accession to the EU's border-free Schengen area, describing it as an act of "discrimination". The EurActiv network reports from Bucharest and Sofia. Speaking in the presidential palace in Bucharest, Basescu said his country would not accept discrimination from anyone, "be it from the most powerful countries of the EU". Hours before, the interior ministers of France and Germany, Brice Hortefeux and Thomas de Maizière, had issued a joint letter saying they would block Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen bid. According to the two ministers, not all conditions are met for the two countries to join the Schengen border-free area.
The two countries had initially planned to join the passport-free zone in March 2011.
"It would not be realistic nor responsible to neglect the deficiencies identified," says the letter, seen by EurActiv Romania. Among the deficiencies, the ministers specify "the absence of a satisfactory juridical and administrative environment in the fields of security and justice, persisting corruption at different levels and worrying levels of organised crime". Consequently, the ministers plead for a postponement of Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession for a later date. "We consider that the decision should be taken when the main causes of worries would be removed and when the two countries would begin irreversible progress in their fight against corruption, of organised crime, as well as of reforming their judicial systems," the letter reads.
When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, they were placed under a special monitoring mechanism to assist them in reforming their juridical systems and combat corruption. In the case of Bulgaria, the fight against organised crime was highlighted as a particular problem. Since then regular reports have revealed only limited progress. However, the European Commission admits that there is no legal link between the Bulgaria and Romania's progress under the mechanism and their accession to the Schengen area. In his statement, Basescu said that Romania had met all technical requirements for joining Schengen and would not accept the introduction of "additional conditionalities". A Polish diplomat told EurActiv recently that his country was worried by attempts from older EU members to "change the rules" of the game and adopt "moving targets" that are difficult to be achieve for newcomers, citing Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen bid as a case in point. The diplomat also expressed worried that the permanent safety net for the euro zone could to raise the bar higher for countries that wish to adopt the common currency.
