Wander around Sofia or stroll through the streets of Bucharest without having to show your credentials at the borders? This will soon be possible. Travel formalities to Bulgaria and Romania will be simplified in 2024. As of 31 March, they will both join the Schengen area. This new feature, announced in December 2023 by the Romanian and Bulgarian Interior Ministers, allows travellers to no longer be checked at borders.
Be careful, however: the measure only applies to the air and sea lanes of states. On the website of the European Council and the Council of the European Union, it is stated that a "new decision will have to be taken [...] in order to set a date for the lifting of land border controls'. No further details are given regarding that date.
Last year, Austria vetoed the decision, arguing that it was the victim of disproportionate illegal immigration at its borders. But an agreement was eventually reached between the three parties. Romania and Bulgaria have been members of the European Union since 2007.
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1.25 billion trips per year
The last country to join the Schengen area was Croatia, in 2022. Every year, 1.25 billion trips take place within this region. And 3.5 million people cross the borders of its member countries every day. In concrete terms, the free movement of people means that travellers will now be able to cross the borders of Bulgaria and Romania without being subject to controls. The public life website, managed by the Prime Minister's Office, specifies that a state that is part of the Schengen area can only reintroduce controls at its borders in the event of a breach of public order or national security, after consultation with the other member states and for a maximum of six months.
Excluding Romania and Bulgaria, the Schengen area has 27 states. 23 belong to the EU and four are associated member states of the European Free Trade Association: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The Schengen area was created following the signing of the Schengen Agreement on 14 June 1985 between five Member States of the European Economic Community – Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Several other agreements followed until the 2007 enlargement, bringing nine additional countries into the free movement area.