Austria’s veto in the JHA Council, which prevented Romania from joining the Schengen Area, means Romania’s economy loses 10 billion euros annually, Economy Minister Florin Spătaru told Digi24. He added that these are costs that Romania has already been paying for several years by remaining outside the common area of movement, even though it met the technical conditions. “Such a decision means €10 billion that Romania’s economy could lose by not joining Schengen and about €1.5 billion that every citizen or company that has to transit the borders by not joining Schengen pays,” the minister told Digi24. “A decision that should have been technical has turned into a decision that, in my view, goes against that principle of solidarity that we should be showing at this moment. I think there are some costs that we have been paying for many, many years, because technically we have been meeting these conditions for a very long time. You realise that these amounts that should have gone into Romania’s budget are necessary. Therefore, the next step will probably be to see how we can make sure that part of these costs are allocated to Romania, because the economy needs these funds,” he added. The minister also said that he called on all ambassadors and all states to examine Romania’s entry into Schengen from a technical point of view, according to the conditions that have been set for Schengen accession, and any decision “that is related to emotion or other aspects that are not relevant to our accession to the Schengen Area should be left aside”. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced on Thursday in Brussels that Romania and Bulgaria have not yet been admitted to the Schengen area, Agerpres reports. The home affairs commissioner congratulated Croatia and Croatian citizens on their accession and said that Bulgaria and Romania also deserved to join the Schengen area, but had failed to get the unanimous support needed to join the free movement of people and goods. “I would be lying to you if I did not say that I am also disappointed and I think I share this disappointment with the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria. It is up to the Commission to be optimistic and take the next steps. We will continue to do so and I am convinced that we will achieve the accession of Romania and Bulgaria during this mandate and this will be my priority,” said the Commissioner. The Justice and Home Affairs Council rejected the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area on Thursday, with two votes against, when unanimity was needed. Of the 27 EU countries, Austria and the Netherlands voted against, with the latter saying it was only opposed to Bulgaria’s accession, according to sources in Brussels, who said talks were continuing on Romania and Bulgaria’s accession.
This is the financial damage.
They can’t even grasp the reputational damage this has cause for both Austria and EU.
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DeepL translation
Austria’s veto in the JHA Council, which prevented Romania from joining the Schengen Area, means Romania’s economy loses 10 billion euros annually, Economy Minister Florin Spătaru told Digi24. He added that these are costs that Romania has already been paying for several years by remaining outside the common area of movement, even though it met the technical conditions. “Such a decision means €10 billion that Romania’s economy could lose by not joining Schengen and about €1.5 billion that every citizen or company that has to transit the borders by not joining Schengen pays,” the minister told Digi24. “A decision that should have been technical has turned into a decision that, in my view, goes against that principle of solidarity that we should be showing at this moment. I think there are some costs that we have been paying for many, many years, because technically we have been meeting these conditions for a very long time. You realise that these amounts that should have gone into Romania’s budget are necessary. Therefore, the next step will probably be to see how we can make sure that part of these costs are allocated to Romania, because the economy needs these funds,” he added. The minister also said that he called on all ambassadors and all states to examine Romania’s entry into Schengen from a technical point of view, according to the conditions that have been set for Schengen accession, and any decision “that is related to emotion or other aspects that are not relevant to our accession to the Schengen Area should be left aside”. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson announced on Thursday in Brussels that Romania and Bulgaria have not yet been admitted to the Schengen area, Agerpres reports. The home affairs commissioner congratulated Croatia and Croatian citizens on their accession and said that Bulgaria and Romania also deserved to join the Schengen area, but had failed to get the unanimous support needed to join the free movement of people and goods. “I would be lying to you if I did not say that I am also disappointed and I think I share this disappointment with the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria. It is up to the Commission to be optimistic and take the next steps. We will continue to do so and I am convinced that we will achieve the accession of Romania and Bulgaria during this mandate and this will be my priority,” said the Commissioner. The Justice and Home Affairs Council rejected the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area on Thursday, with two votes against, when unanimity was needed. Of the 27 EU countries, Austria and the Netherlands voted against, with the latter saying it was only opposed to Bulgaria’s accession, according to sources in Brussels, who said talks were continuing on Romania and Bulgaria’s accession.
This is the financial damage.
They can’t even grasp the reputational damage this has cause for both Austria and EU.
Hard to be credible after all of this.