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People's Movement Party (PMP) national leader MEP Eugen Tomac told a news conference in Iasi on Tuesday that at the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting this month Romania's accession to the Schengen area will unfortunately not feature on the agenda.
"On March 9, a new JHA meeting will be held. The home affairs ministers of the European Union will meet there. The Schengen Area will be discussed. But Romania's accession to the Schengen Area will not be discussed. And it is the first meeting after the one on December 8, 2022. Most of the European and Romanian politicians said then that Romania will for sure join the area at the next JHA meeting. The next JHA meeting takes place in two days. Unfortunately, Romania's accession to the Schengen Area is totally missing," said Tomac.
He added that he was in Iasi also to start up a campaign to collect signatures for the petition entitled "Romania deserves accession to the Schengen Area."
He said that this approach comes after in February he brought the Council of the European Union before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) because Romania was not accepted in the Schengen Area at the JHA meeting on December 8, 2022.
"That's why this court case that we opened and this signature collection campaign has a big stake," added Tomac.
In his opinion, this injustice done to the Romanians should be corrected through this court litigation to unblock things at the level of the Council of the European Union.
"We have taken the first step and I strongly believe that this action is the only way in which Romania, within a reasonable time, will be able to enjoy all the rights that all other member states that enjoy free movement within the Union European have. This action needs the support of every Romanian. It is not enough that only I, as a member of the European Parliament, complain about this abuse of rights by the Council of the European Union generated by Austria's blockage. The European Parliament has to step in as privileged defendant in the CJEU court case. However, in order to win the EP support I need the support of Romanians. That is why I am launching this campaign under which I am inviting Romanian citizens to support by a signature on www.romaniainschengen.ro," Tomac argued.
Tomac also said that an "abuse of law" was committed by the Council of the European Union when Romania was denied accession to the Schengen area.
"Several articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and, obviously, of the Treaty of the European Union were violated. First of all, our accession treaty was violated. In Article 4 (2) the Accession Treaty it is very clearly stated that when Romania meets the criteria, it will be invited to the Schengen Area. Also, the EU Council violated Article 4 (3) in the European Union Treaty, which mentions the principle of loyal co-operation between states. The member states are under an obligation to work starting from the premise that they serve the EU's interest and do not block the functioning of the EU, as Austria is doing at the moment. Also, Article 13, Article 2 of the TFEU were violated, regarding the principle of loyal co-operation between institutions," added Tomac.
The EU home affairs ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday, March 9, in a Justice and Home Affairs Council (JAI) meeting, for the first time in this format under the six-month presidency of the EU Council held by Sweden since January 1, 2023.
On the provisional agenda of the JHA Council meeting of March 9-10, in the non-legislative activities section, the overall state of the Schengen area is mentioned, but not the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the area. In this section, there will be an exchange of opinions about the functioning of the Schengen area and the future of visa policy. Also, the latest developments in the entry into operation of the enhanced Schengen Information System (SIS) will be presented.
The agenda may undergo changes following the meeting of COREPER, the committee of permanent representatives of the national governments of the EU member states, scheduled for Wednesday, March 8.
The March 9-10 meeting is also the first official meeting of the JHA Council after the one in December 2022, when the accession of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area featured on the agenda. Of these three countries, only the accession of the first was green-lighted, with Croatia becoming a member of the European free movement area on January 1, 2023.
In the case of Romania and Bulgaria, there was no unanimity, although the two countries met all the necessary technical conditions, recognised by the European Commission since 2011, including after evaluations made by European experts. The opposition came from Austria and the Netherlands, with the latter specifying that Bulgaria is not yet ready to enter. AGERPRES
