Verklaring Poolse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Jerzy Miller over uitbreiding Schengengebied (en)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Following recent public announcements two countries today blocked the possibility of taking a decision on the enlargement of the Schengen area. This evokes in me above all rather sad conclusions on mutual trust between EU Member States.

When Bulgaria and Romania signed the Accession Treaties they had been given promise that if they fulfilled the defined conditions they would become members of the Schengen area. Since April this year both countries have met all of these conditions. In my opinion, trust relies on keeping promises. Today these promises embodied in the Accession Treaties have been broken.

We live in hard times, hard also for the EU. Such moments require that we support each other. Today, some lacked the courage to say that we want to do it together and not separately. Prime Minister Tusk, not so long ago said in the European Parliament: "The European idea is the Europeans’ best invention." Today we probably lacked a sense that the European idea is important.

The issue of the CVM report appeared in the discussion. It should be emphasized that both Bulgaria and Romania have made remarkable progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime.

Last but not least, it is important to note that nowadays Bulgaria and Romania are practically guarding EU external borders, despite the fact that they do so without formal obligation. We have provided both countries with the Schengen Information System, thus the officers controlling their borders, actually protect the whole Schengen area. Following this voluntary commitment, only this year several thousand people from third countries were turned away from Bulgarian and Romanian borders because they had no right to enter the EU. So it seems that we are happily making use of someone else's work but we do not necessarily want to take them into our family. I do not think the idea of solidarity should work like that. Especially if it refers to the fundamental value we talk about all the time when it concerns the Schengen area - the freedom of movement. When you ask a citizen of a Member State, which one is a really important achievement of the EU, usually among the first listed values they say: "Freedom of movement".

At the end a little dose of optimism - I hope that despite today's inability to come to a conclusion, we are much closer to a positive outcome, namely the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area.

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