The EU Commission has officially closed special monitoring of the judiciary and the rule of law in Bulgaria and Romania. Both countries have implemented important reforms in recent years, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. However, as in all other EU countries, the Commission will continue to regularly examine the state of the rule of law, she said.
Progress in combating corruption
Since joining the EU in 2007, the judiciary and the rule of law in both countries have been under special monitoring by the EU Commission due to rampant corruption and organized crime. Until now there has been
Because of these problems, there is still no unanimity among the states
and heads of government for joining the Schengen area without border controls. According to the European Commission, Romania and Bulgaria are ready for accession.
Significant progress in the rule of law. View of the Palace of Justice in Bucharest. © Imago/ingimage
Austria blocks accession to Schengen, Romania wants to sue
After Romania threatened to sue if Austria maintained its veto against the country’s Schengen membership, European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) reiterated Austria’s concerns about Schengen expansion. “The Austrian veto on Schengen is not directed against Romania, but against a system that no longer works,” Edtstadler said in a statement on Friday in response to a request from the APA.
However, Edtstadler also showed understanding for Bucharest’s attitude. “We respect the attitude and understand the interests of our partner Romania. At the same time, however, we cannot close our eyes and expand a broken system”, emphasized the European Minister.
The EU is called upon to “do its homework and ensure the functioning of the protection of the EU’s external borders. Only secure external borders enable our vision of a Europe without internal borders”, said Edtstadler.
Immense damage to Romania
The Romanian head of government, Marcel Ciolacu, said in an interview with “Standard” (Friday’s edition) that if Austria again vetoes the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, as soon as the issue returns to the agenda, Bucharest would want to take legal action. “Categorically, yes,” said Ciolacu when asked by the newspaper. The head of government estimates the damage caused to Romania by not joining the border-free zone at two percent of gross domestic product.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen “without further delay” on Wednesday. Both countries have proven that they meet the necessary conditions, she said during her State of the Union speech in Strasbourg. Her request is likely to be aimed primarily at Austria, which continues to block the two countries’ membership. However, von der Leyen did not mention Austria by name.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) reacted by referring to the current increase in the number of migrations in Europe: “At this moment, it makes no sense for me to talk about the expansion of the Schengen area. We need more controls, not any less.”
Romania asks Austria for review
On Thursday, Romanian EU parliamentarians Eugen Tomac and Vlad Botoș™ also called on the European Commission to open an investigation into Austria’s sanctions compliance, in a letter to David O’Sullivan, the EU sanctions commissioner. against Russia. They suspected a possible violation of Russian sanctions by Vienna, Eugen Tomac wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
The leader of the ÖVP delegation in the European Parliament, Angelika Winzig, described her Romanian colleagues’ statements as “wrong and more than unnecessary. They did not even seek a conversation with us. The statements are far from objective criticism and should be rejected in the strongest possible terms. The Austrian government “Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have been working on diversifying gas supplies and have already made important progress. It was always clear that this was not a process that would end overnight. Austria also supported all sanctions against Russia.”