According to Zaharescu, the Commission is expected to make a decision regarding the two countries’ Schengen entry at the meeting of EU’s Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on Wednesday, December 5.
Early September, official sources told Mediafax the September 19-20 meeting of the EU’s JHA Council, where Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen area entry were to be discussed, had been canceled.
Romanian President Traian Basescu said on September 4 that Romania’s allies and friends have no reason to oppose the country’s accession to the border-free Schengen area, because state institutions did their job “correctly” despite the “illegal” acts committed and assumed by certain politicians.
Basescu had asked all ambassadors to concur with his opinion and stressed that “politicians’ mistakes must never be used to annul Romanians’ rights.” The president also said that politicians’ moves and acts don’t justify any sanctions against Romania as concerns its joining the Schengen area or harshening the measures related to the unfolding and financing by the EU of the regional operational programs.
Asked to comment on Romania’s chances in its bid to join the passport-free Schengen area, which the country was planning to achieve in March 2011, European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding said recently that she would not be surprised if EU countries decide to postpone its entry again. She said the decision to allow Romania into the Schengen area must be made by EU member states unanimously and the fundamental question is whether Romania’s rule of law is trustworthy.