Austria Still Opposing Further Enlargement of Schengen to Include Romania & Bulgaria

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Austria's Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner, reiterated the country's unchanged position against the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Zone.
• Karner emphasised the need for improved external border protection, arguing that expanding the Schengen Zone is not feasible in the current security environment with increased border controls among member states.
• Arguing that the Schengen Zone should become “better, not bigger,” the Interior Minister of Austria, Gerhard Karner, recalled that Vienna’s position regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the borderless area remains unchanged.

His comments came during the meeting of the EU Interior Ministers held on December 5; however, a vote on the accession of these two countries was not included on the agenda.

During the meeting, Karner once again called for robust external border protection.

Freedom of travel in Europe is currently not possible because, for security reasons, more member states are controlling their borders than ever before – including Austria. The only solution is robust and functioning external border protection. We have to make Schengen better and not bigger.

Karner

Recently, the Member of the European Parliament, Vlad Gheorghe, confirmed that the accession of both these Balkan countries to the Schengen Zone was officially included on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council scheduled for December 5; however, it was also confirmed that no vote on the matter was part of the agenda.

Karner considered the number of border controls imposed by European countries enough reason to prevent further expansion of the visa-free travel zone, which currently consists of 27 countries.

The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone is among the main priorities of Spain, which at present holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, with the Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska, expressing his belief that the issue would be finalised by the end of this year.

However, the membership of these two countries was also blocked in December last year by Austria, citing irregular migration concerns. Mentioning the same reasons, Sofia’s accession, in addition to Austria, was also opposed by the Netherlands.

Both Austria and the Netherlands have often stressed that when it comes to this issue, their position remains unchanged, in spite of the fact that both Romania and Bulgaria have met all the needed requirements.

During the meeting held on December 5, the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union reported on the status of negotiations on the asylum and migration pact.

After the corresponding decision by the EU Ministers, the pact should be finalised between the European Parliament, the Council presidency, and the EU Commission. The negotiations regarding the issue will continue on December 7.

It is important that the pact is concluded quickly. But it is even more important that there is a good and orderly result. We have to prevent people from making their way to Europe. The key to this is securing the mainland instead of “Sea rescue,”

Karner

Temporary reintroduction of border controls at internal borders is permitted by Member States, based on the Schengen Borders Code (SBC); however, it must be applied as a last resort measure in exceptional situations and respect the principle of proportionality.

The figures from the European Union Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) revealed that in the first ten months of this year, a total of 331,600 irregular border crossing attempts had been registered at the EU’s external borders, accounting for an 18 per cent increase compared to the figures of the same period last year.