BTA. European Parliament Urges Lifting Schengen Land Border Controls for Bulgaria and Romania by Year's End

The European Parliament (EP) on Wednesday called for lifting Schengen land border controls for Bulgaria and Romania by the end of 2024. Air and sea border controls were scrapped on March 31, 2024.

According to the European legislature, the long lines of trucks waiting at borders should disappear after Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen area by land as well, and after the EU adopts additional legislation. The MEPs noted that hundreds of trucks are held up at internal borders in the bloc every day, which affects the drivers' health and working conditions, road safety and hauliers' business.

The EP recommended setting a one-minute limit for land border checks for trucks inside the EU. It wants the EU to provide a possibility for truck drivers to use minor border checkpoints under certain conditions.

The proposal for the one-minute limit came from Bulgarian MEP Andrey Novakov (EPP/GERB). The EP resolved that the standard should be established by the middle of 2024.

Another Bulgarian MEP, Emil Radev (EPP/GERB), who is a rapporteur on the dossier, commented: "The EP stance paves the way to resolving the problem about the kilometers-long lines of vehicles waiting at borders. The EPP clearly showed that it is on the drivers' side by insisting on relaxed inspection rules for trucks at border checkpoints. At the same time, the resolution reaffirmed the EP's unqualified support for our full membership of the Schengen area. Full membership will bring a definitive solution for the time-consuming processing of documents for the purposes of border control."

The EP response to Novakov's "one minute" proposal shows that Bulgaria has a strong team in Brussels, Radev commented.