Tomac: Romania will not enter Schengen either in 2023 or 2024

Tomac criticized the Romanian government's approach regarding Schengen accession, describing it as somewhat unserious. He commented on the government's intention to sue Austria due to Austria's opposition to the expansion of the European area of free movement.

According to Tomac, Romania is not likely to enter the Schengen Area anytime soon. He boldly stated, "I say it as unequivocally as possible: this year, Romania will not enter the Schengen Area, and most likely, we won't enter in 2024 either. The most realistic timeline we can look at with optimism is the first part of 2025 when Poland will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union."

In his view, "the approach the government is taking now is somewhat unserious because we are announcing that we will take legal action against someone who will not express their position, for a very simple reason. Even now, in October, there is a JAI Council (Justice and Home Affairs), and we have noticed that there is no discussion on the agenda of this JAI Council regarding a possible extension of the Schengen Area. Therefore, with this issue not on the agenda, Austria will not express its position. I believe that we are fundamentally making several mistakes, but the first one is that we are not coordinating all of our actions and steps in collaboration with Bulgaria. Our negotiations should take place in this format, not bilaterally but in a trilateral format with Austria, and we should go to the Netherlands together with the Bulgarians." Tomac believes that "the Schengen dossier can be resolved with a single key, and obviously, the Romanian government and I have extended this invitation; it has an instrument through which it can act tomorrow.

There is a request pending at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) where I initiated an action against the Council of the European Union as a Member of the European Parliament. In this action, I request the annulment of this abusive decision for a very simple reason. On December 8th of last year, a proposal came from the European Commission to the Council of Justice and Home Affairs (JAI) that read as follows: Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia are invited to join the Schengen Area as they meet the criteria.

However, during the meeting, two decisions were taken: Croatia was accepted, while Romania and Bulgaria were not. From that moment, a legal conflict was created, and we are no longer in a situation where the right to veto is absolute and so on. No. If there was a proposal, and two decisions were made, this legal conflict must be settled at CJEU. However, the government hesitates to involve, although it has privileged complainant status. It would have the right to do so at any time, but it could only act on its behalf, according to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 263, within two months. On the other hand, I did not want to miss this deadline, "so I initiated this action in my own name, but I have non-privileged complainant status, so I am following a different procedure, constantly justifying my interest in this case. In contrast, the government would change the terms immediately, and the case would be heard much faster, and we would probably get the green light in the spring of next year."

 

 

 

 

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