The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said on Monday in Strasbourg, in the plenary session of the European Parliament, that her message to the Justice and Home Affairs Council on Thursday in Luxembourg will be that Romania and Bulgaria must join the Schengen area with land borders by the end of the year.
In a European Parliament debate about the re-introduction of border controls by some countries in the Schengen area and the effects of these decisions on the free movement area, Ylva Johansson declared she was proud to live in the Schengen area.
It is the largest circulation area in the world. 450 million people from 29 countries can move freely through Europe. Almost 30% of Europe's population lives in a border area. 50 million people live directly next to a border I thank you for putting such an important debate on the agenda, said the European Home Affairs Commissioner to the MEPs.
She emphasized during the debate that the reintroduction of internal border controls must be a temporary and last-resort measure.
"I am so proud of this mandate. We got Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen. I fought very hard for it. The impact on people is huge. No passport and no queues. This is what Europe means. A friend from Romania told me how wonderful it is at the airport when children laugh and say: 'Look mom, we don't need passports anymore!' And this is because Schengen is not only the foundation of our prosperity. Schengen is part of our identity, it is part of who we are," she said in the EP plenary session.
''Bulgaria and Romania have done everything possible, they have implemented all the additional measures, and my message to the ministers at the Council on Thursday [Justice and Home Affairs Council] will be to take the last step. Lift the controls at the land borders as well until the end of the year. It's time," said Ylva Johansson.
Comentează