Berca, who had a meeting with his Dutch counterpart Gerd Leers, added the European Commission’s report due this summer will confirm again that Romania has met all its commitments.
“Following talks with minister Leers, I have received positive signals that a decision allowing Romania’s Schengen entry will be made in September this year. I am confident the European Commission’s report on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) this summer will confirm again that Romania has met its commitments, even though this report is not part of Schengen accession criteria,” Berca said in a press release issued by the Interior Ministry Thursday.
The Romanian and Dutch interior ministers met Wednesday in Brussels, at a European People’s Party meeting.
The European Union has delayed until September a decision on letting Romania and Bulgaria into the bloc’s visa-free Schengen zone, due to Dutch opposition.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Romania and Bulgaria must receive another positive report from the EU’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, or CVM, in order to remove The Netherlands’ objections to the two countries joining the Schengen travel zone.
Romania and Bulgaria have accused the Netherlands of double standards for imposing criteria for Schengen accession that are not part of the formal conditions for membership. The Dutch Government has been saying that Romania and Bulgaria have not done enough to rein in organized crime and corruption, and that opening the Schengen borders to their citizens is therefore premature.