EESC urges immediate action for Bulgaria and Romania’s full Schengen integration before the year ends

Granting full Schengen status to Bulgaria and Romania will also benefit the EU single market, as any limitations on freedom of movement within the EU adversely affect EU competitiveness and hamper its economic growth

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on the Council of the European Union to set a definitive date for lifting land border controls between Bulgaria, Romania and other Schengen Member States by the end of this year.

The final decision is expected to be made during the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 12 December. If approved, Bulgaria and Romania – who are the only two EU Member States in continental Europe that are only partially included in the borderless Schengen regime – would achieve full membership starting 1 January 2025.

In this way, they would join the other EU Member States that have adhered to the Schengen Agreement and abolished all border controls between them allowing for the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

The Council of the EU only lifted air and maritime internal border controls with Romania and Bulgaria as of March 2024, despite the fact that the European Commission has consistently supported the two countries fully joining the Schengen zone since 2011. At a recent high level government meeting in Budapest, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania issued a joint declaration supporting the full Schengen integration of Romania and Bulgaria by the end of 2024.

‘We look forward to a positive and final solution on 12 December,’ said Mariya Mincheva, rapporteur of the EESC opinion ‘The Cost of Non-Schengen for the Single Market – impact on Bulgaria and Romania’, adopted at the EESC plenary session on 4 December.

In the opinion, the EESC emphasised that the Schengen Agreement is a key factor in the EU’s economic success and that benefits of Schengen membership should be extended equally to all EU citizens. Bulgaria and Romania are currently paying a high economic, environmental and political price for their partial integration in the EU.

‘Companies in the two countries pay billions of euros annually due to increased logistics costs, delays impacting deliveries of goods and equipment, and increasing fuel and driver wages. Higher prices pass these costs on to consumers. There are negative effects on the environment, tourism, and cross-border labour mobility, to name just a few,’ said Ms Mincheva.

A comprehensive study conducted by the Economic Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (ERI) reveals that Bulgaria’s partial accession to the Schengen Area results in an annual average loss exceeding EUR 834 million for the Bulgarian economy. This figure accounts for direct, indirect and environmental impacts.

Although there are no comparable numbers for Romania, estimates show that delays at land borders cost transport operators EUR 90 million, with an additional EUR 2.32 billion lost in annual revenues.

Based on conservative estimates, annual carbon emissions from border controls remaining at the Hungary-Romania, Romania-Bulgaria, and Bulgaria-Greece borders exceed 46 000 tCO2 per year. This is comparable to the annual emissions generated by the electricity consumption of approximately 28 000 EU households.

Cumbersome border controls also take a toll on the investment climate, deterring foreign investment and worsening economic disparities between eastern and western European countries.

The partial inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area also has significant political repercussions as it risks eroding trust in European institutions and fuelling Euroscepticism. It also undermines – rather than increases – EU security, the EESC maintained.

The EESC stressed that the exclusion of the countries from the Schengen regime, as any temporary reintroduction of border controls like those recently introduced by some EU countries, also negatively affects the functioning of the EU single market as a whole.

‘The competitiveness of the EU is a pressing political priority, as underscored by recent reports from Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi. Any limitations on the freedom of movement within the single market, including technical restrictions on routes and road transport, have an adverse effect on EU competitiveness and economic growth, hampering the full realisation of the social market economy as envisaged in the Treaties,’ it said in the opinion.

The EESC urged the European Commission to regularly provide reliable data on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of Schengen-related border controls, including with respect to competitiveness. Current analyses and data on the economic effects of non-Schengen on the single market are limited.