Sat, Nov 21 2009

EU ministers to discuss Bulgaria’s Schengen accession

Tue, Jun 02 2009 15:16 CET 2325 Views 2 Comments
EU ministers to discuss Bulgaria’s Schengen accession

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: A queue at Latvia's Terehova border point with Russia 250km east of the capital Riga, August 2007. Latvia joined the EU Schengen border patrol agreement on January 1 2008.

The European Union’s justice and home affairs ministers will meet on June 4 2009 to discuss a calendar for the admission of the UK, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Liechtenstein to the bloc’s Schengen visa system.
 
Currently, Bulgarian citizens are allowed visa-free entry into the Schengen system and there is eased access to Bulgaria for Schengen visa holders, but the country is not a full member of the system.
 
Initial estimates of when Bulgaria, which joined the EU along with Romania at the beginning of 2007, would be admitted to Schengen have faded into meaningless amid continuing problems both on the side of the country and the EU itself.
 
In February 2009, reports said that Bulgaria faced losing a large part of EU funds made available for the country in the run-up to its accession to the Schengen visa area.
 
In two years, Dnevnik reported at the time, Bulgarian institutions had managed to absorb as little as 1.4 per cent of the total 161 million euro assigned for the purpose.
 
Bulgaria submitted its formal declaration of readiness in September 2007 and has sent European authorities follow-up reports as a prequel to official checks of whether the country meets the criteria for admission to the system.

On January 6 2009, Bulgaria submitted to the EU Council's Schengen evaluation working group its answers to a questionnaire on the country's preparations.

In March 2009, Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said that the plan was for Bulgaria to be admitted to Schengen in March 2011.
 
However, in April the award of a tender to produce biometric passports, an essential element for Bulgaria to be admitted to Schengen, was halted by the Supreme Administrative Court.
 
There is another complication, at EU level - the tardiness in making progress on the second generation of the EU’s Schengen Information System, more commonly known as SISII.
 
A report adopted by EU justice and home affairs ministers in February 2009 called for urgent work to be done on SISII to eliminate delays and bring plans back on track. It is expected that on June 4, ministers will be given an update on work on SISII.

The Schengen agenda item for the June 4 2009 meeting of EU justice and home affairs meeting notes that what is being discussed is the admission of the six states if "all requirements are fulfilled".

Comments

Anonymous chokyanovozka Fri, Jul 31 2009 14:21 CET
Inappropriate comment?

.
- , . . .
- ? ?
- ! . ! ... , ...
...
- . ? .
- ? ?
- , ! .

Anonymous chokyanovozka Thu, Jul 30 2009 13:43 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous obafanovozka Thu, Jul 02 2009 13:15 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous bafanovozka Mon, Jun 29 2009 17:17 CET
Inappropriate comment?

- , ?
- , .
- ? .
- , , ,
, . , .

Anonymous afanovozka Sat, Jun 27 2009 14:19 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous fanovozka Fri, Jun 26 2009 15:13 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous Smardiadeplaura Tue, Jun 23 2009 00:41 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous Kabel cable Wed, Jun 03 2009 10:57 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Anonymous Smardiadeplaura Wed, Jun 03 2009 10:38 CET

This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained .

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
EU gives Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia visa-free travel from January 2010

Citizens of the three Western Balkans countries with biometric passports will be able to travel to the Schengen countries visa-free, according to a proposal approved by the European Commission on July 15 2009.

New rules for European Union visas

Third-country nationals will benefit from more consistent and transparent application procedures, European Council says after approving new rules for Schengen visas on June 25 2009.

Kosovo president proposes ‘mini-Schengen’ for the Balkans

Presidents of Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo meeting to discuss regional co-operation and European prospects of Western Balkans countries.

Schengen visa liberalisation for Western Balkans a step closer

Western Balkans countries that meet criteria should be Schengen visa-exempt, EU ministers say; European Commission vows legislation before summer break

Austria calls for tougher controls along EU's borders

Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann, during a meeting with the head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels has addressed the issue of combating and tacking crime in the schengen zone, due to an escallating crime wave in the country

Biometric passport deal signed and halted by court

Biometric passports are on hold again; after Mikov signed a deal with Germany's Siemens, the supreme court put the deal on ice.

Bulgaria, Romania optimistic about being ready for Schengen - but Schengen may not be ready for them

Just two days after Bulgaria and Romania expressed optimism about their preparations to join Europe's Schengen visa zone, it emerged that Schengen's planned new security database is so far behind schedule that it may not be technically possible to admit the new entrants.

Children under 12 should not have their fingerprints included in EU passports, European Parliament says

Children younger than 12 should no longer have their fingerprints included on passports issued in the European Union, the European Parliament decided on January 14 2009, the EP website said. A co-decision report adopted by the EP with 594 votes in favour, 51 against and 37 abstentions, said that children should have their own passports so as to combat trafficking in children.

Checks into Bulgaria's preparations for Schengen area

Bulgaria has met a European Commission deadline for information on its preparations to join the Schengen visa area, while a series of inspections will take place in the first half of 2009.

Biometric passports? Someday, but not now

Seven months after the Interior Ministry initiated public procurement procedure for selecting a company to produce Bulgarian biometric identification documents came to a halt, the ministry announced that new procedure will be under way in the spring of 2009, Dnevnik daily reported. The implementation of biometric passports was due on January 1 2007 with the country's accession to the European Union. The implementation of the biometric passports is one of the crucial conditions for the abolition of the US visa requirements.

Bulgarian biometric passports to be ready in 10 months -minister

Bulgaria would be ready to introduce its much-delayed biometric passports in 10 months, Interior Minister Michail Mikov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian daily Sega on June 29. Mikov made his statements in reply to questions during a work-visit to France, Sega said. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told The Sofia Echo on June 30 that she could not comment on Mikov's statement and no further details were available.

More in this category

Mixed reactions to Van Rompuy, Ashton taking EU top jobs

Welcomed by the UK government, France and Germany, as well as the US, the naming of Belgium’s Herman van Rompuy as European Council President and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief has caused misgivings in some circles, including Turkey which believes that Van Rompuy will oppose Turkish membership of the bloc.

European Council set to make a meal of it

The dinner meeting of EU leaders to decide on the European Council President and the bloc’s new foreign minister and head of secretariat could take a few hours or all night, says host Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister.

Is the EU ready to face another Russian gas crisis?

Russia and the European Union have agreed on an early warning system if another natural gas cutoff looms. Some say that Bulgaria, among other countries hard-hit by the January 2009 crisis, is now better prepared. Not everyone is convinced.

Bulgarian cinema a hit at Bangkok festival

Five Bulgarian films screened at the World Film Festival in Bangkok.

Pieces of the European Commission jigsaw puzzle

A complicated game, played partly in the dark, and with elements of everything from poker to tug ‘o war – that’s the way Europe’s leaders will come up with its new European Council President, foreign minister and European Commission.