Sofia, Bulgaria: The European Commission once again has asked the European Council to initiate and execute the required steps to consolidate the Schengen area by adopting the decision to enable Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania to become a member of the organisation.
The request has been stated by the Commission in the State of Schengen Report 2022, which was released on Tuesday.
The statement in the report states, “Romania and Bulgaria are also awaiting the decision of the Council, whilst they continue to actively apply the Schengen acquis, in particular in relation to the management of the external borders with Ukraine”.
Following the above statement, the Commission then highlights that both Bulgaria and Romania are fulfilling the necessary conditions to join Schengen.
In relation to the reformed Schengen Evaluation and Monitoring Mechanism, both the member states of the EU have made a “joint declaration” to the European Council where they underscored their wish and commitment to apply the Schengen acquis as well as to provide their contribution for the proper functioning of the area without internal border controls.
In addition to this, the European Union member states agreed on temporary trade liberalisation with Ukraine and other trade concessions.
“This means that for one year, import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union will not be due”, stated the EU Council in context to the above statement.
The Balkan state of Bulgaria has been a member of the European Union since January 1, 2007. Bulgarians contain 1.4% of the total EU population
The European Union Ministers are also working to create solidarity channels to facilitate the export of food from Ukraine to the EU and world markets. Following this, the ministers have agreed that the CAP assistance will assure food security in the European region.
Apart from this, in the recent meeting of the EU on May 24, 2022, the ministers were informed by the Commission about the channels of solidarity between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine. This initiative was taken in regard to the export of Ukrainian agricultural products by land to European and world markets.