30 million Romanians, Bulgarians & Croatians to have border checks lifted by the EU

Facts4EU.Org looks at the implications for Brexit Britain

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2022

Years after qualifying, these countries will join EU’s shattered Schengen free movement zone

On Wednesday (16 Nov 2022) the EU Commission formally called on the EU Council to lift all border controls and checks with three member countries totalling just under 30 million people.

Two of these countries – Romania and Bulgaria - were first approved by the EU Commission 11 years ago but the Council declined to agree that border controls should be lifted. Now, with the backing of a resolution from the EU Parliament, these countries plus Croatia will finally get their wish at a meeting of EU Council ministers on 08 December.

The significance for the United Kingdom

Illegal migrants, people traffickers, and terrorists
The hypocrisy of the EU over the Northern Ireland border

Internal border checks within the EU help to ensure that illegal migrants, criminals, and terrorists can be detected at borders and can be questioned and apprehended.

Given the poor record of Romania and Bulgaria in relation to crime, corruption, and people trafficking as set out in the EU Commission’s regular ‘country reports’, it is perhaps not surprising that the other EU member countries were not keen to lift border checks with people from these countries. This approval has so far been withheld by the EU Council for 11 years but now it seems inevitable that next month they will have to approve these countries, plus Croatia.

With the crisis of illegal migrants crossing the Channel to the UK in ever-increasing numbers now dominating headlines, anything which makes it easier for ‘the wrong elements’ to join the crowds on northern French shores must be of some concern to the authorities.

Secondly, today we show how the EU’s precious Schengen Zone has been fractured and dysfunctional for years, with “hard borders” being imposed unilaterally by EU member countries across the bloc, against EU law. This contrasts with the EU’s obsession over the Northern Ireland border.

“Schengen enjoys overwhelming support of the European population and Bulgarian, Romanian, and Croatian citizens must enjoy their rights with no further delays. I call on the Council to take the necessary decisions to allow these three countries to join fully the area without controls at internal borders.”
- Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Brussels, 16 Nov 2022

30 million people joining an already shattered EU ‘Schengen area’

Whilst the EU Commission describes its Schengen area as “one of the greatest achievements” of the EU, the reality over the past 15 years has been very different.

All member countries of the Schengen area are supposed to have no border controls with neighbouring EU countries. In exceptional circumstances they may introduce these temporarily for a period of no more than six months. In reality the ‘exceptions’ have entirely outweighed ‘the rules’. Below we show just how dysfunctional the Schengen area has become.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The EU’s famous ‘rule of law’ is now bordering on the ridiculous

Total number of ‘exceptions’ notified to the EU Commission : 348 since 2006
Total number this year (2022) already : 34

[Source: EU Commission, Nov 2022.]

The situation has got so bad that the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled in April that temporary reintroductions of border controls may not last longer than six months per announced threat. This has been ignored by member country governments.

If the EU genuinely were an organisation founded on “the rule of law” as it claims, then the EU Commission would be taking action against all countries involved. The daily fines which would be imposed by the CJEU would be enormous.

The EU Commission has taken no action at all.

Here is how the EU presents the Schengen Zone

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

How the EU ideologues' fantasies have hit the hard borders of reality

The EU's Schengen Zone fantasy
This is our map of how the EU presents the Schengen Zone
(click here for the official version)

And this is the real Schengen Zone
The Schengen reality
HARD BORDERS EVERYWHERE

It currently involves 22 EU countries : Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as 4 associated non-EU countries : Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The Republic of Ireland maintains an opt-out.

The Schengen code is a fundamental part of one of the EU’s “Four Freedoms”, as it involves free movement.

Maps created by the Facts4EU.Org team, using mapchart.net

The French were the first to break the Schengen Zone

It may not surprise readers to learn that France was the first country to break the Schengen Zone. In 2006 they closed the land border with Spain as a result of Basque youth protests in South-West France.

This event is included in the EU Commission’s official list of “Member States’ notifications of the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders”.

What is the EU’s supposedly borderless ‘Schengen area’?

The EU continues to claim – erroneously - on its website that “The Schengen area is the largest free-travel area in the world”.

As we have shown above, this is simply not true. Border controls exist on the vast majority of internal EU borders between member countries, completely against EU law and a ruling from the European Court of Justice (CJEU).

Observations

The EU's "theatre of the absurd"

In one sense our report today is about the EU theatre of the absurd. The EU’s Schengen area is completely broken and has been for many years. On the other hand the EU Commission is always looking for propaganda wins, and the notional opening up of borders with three more EU countries gives it that opportunity.

The reality is that the ideological mission of the fanatics in Brussels has come against the brutal reality of EU member countries' need to defend themselves.

Two particular elements of EU Commission hypocrisy stand out, we suggest

The first is that 'hard borders' now exist everywhere in the EU, while the EU Commission has taken a completely different and aggressive approach to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The irony is that no hard border is needed at all on that island.

The second is that for years the Commission has been turning a blind eye to the flagrant flouting of EU law over one of its major "achievements". At the same time it has repeatedly lectured and threatened the United Kingdom about obeying laws.

Despite all its protestations, the EU is clearly not an organisation based on "the Rule of Law".

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[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Council | EU Parliament ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 18 Nov 2022

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Reader Comments 24

1. John Tolhurst , Friday, November 18, 2022, 07:20:

As we are now out of the Eu, time to quickly withdraw from the ECHR, and implement our own fair rules,so we can remove freeloading illegal immigrants, and the likes of 30 million eyeing up our free benefits, before it's too late.

2. Buster , Friday, November 18, 2022, 08:12:

Lol. I mean, genuinely, lol. Even by the standards of Facts4EU this is particularly fact free drivel. You do not appear to understand the Northern Ireland border issue, which sums up why Brexit is such a mess.
Schengen is about people. It is a towering achievement. It affords those within it huge freedoms to live and work how and where they want across two dozen countries - and to travel freely across the Schengen with no real checks. When I arrived at an airport in Greece this summer there was a massive queue of Brexit Britons waiting to get through passport control. It took two hours. At one point a plane load of Germans arrived and they walked straight through. No checks. We carried on waiting.
Brexit has made Britons second class citizens in their own continent. Whilst a Bulgarian can now travel freely across two dozen countries and live and work as she please, a Brexit Briton is stuck in their home country. Fenced in by the red faced old people who voted leave. This massively harms the opportunities your children and grandchildren have.
This borderless Europe for European citizens is a phenomenal achievement. We were never part of Schengen but we still used to benefit from free movement before the Brexitists took it away because they didn’t know what it was but assumed it had something to do with non-white people. That is what Farage told them after all. Free movement never applied to asylum seekers.
Anyway, the border issue in Northern Ireland is not about people. It is about goods. The UK always had border checks for people but goods from Europe were frictionless. Not any more. There are now massive frictions for goods - causing huge delays and contributing significantly to the Tory Brexit cost of living crisis.
The last month has seen a massive change. The public has turned decisively against Brexit. We will be rejoining before long and you can all have your free movement back.

3. Jon, Wales , Friday, November 18, 2022, 09:34:

Buster (2) - I suggest you take your propaganda elsewhere, or set up your own website where you can bleat to your hearts content.
It is noted that despite many warnings, you are set to continue your tirade, and are still being racist and ageist.
To debate an issue is one thing, though it appears you have only one rather nasty and vindictive agenda which is unacceptable.
Grow up why don't you!

4. Paul j , Friday, November 18, 2022, 10:34:

Buster
It really does show your delusion that you the British electorate would accept, open borders in the EUSSR and taking on the euro.
Might get a closer relationship at best but we'll never be full members again.

5. Paul j , Friday, November 18, 2022, 10:56:

Buster
What makes you think the EUSSR wants the UK back?
They would have Nigel farage or someone like him straight back in the EU parliament.
The UK will never be a full member again, a closer trading relationship will probably happen under Liebour but that's it.
Nobody wants to reopen the Brexit wound, only rabid remoaners like yourself do.
Brexiteers can cause just as much disruption as you remoaners have, and will.

6. Gazzablack , Friday, November 18, 2022, 12:30:

More bluster from Buster
Germany, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and France have kept BORDER CONTROLS In place continuously since displaced people began arriving in Europe in increased numbers in 2015.
Not being a member of the Schengen area, we've always been subject to passport control.
Buster nott being British, is ignorant of the UK/Ireland 'common travel area's which has been in existence since the 1920's.
Border checks have always been about goes rather than people, and took place while we were both in the EU because we have differing tax regimes.
Meanwhile Euronews is reporting on the Belgian refugee crisis.
Where the government doesn't have any accommodation for them, so many have been sleeping on the streets for months.
While Austria, Hungary and Serbia sign a migration deal saying the EU approach has failed.
That's going well then.

7. Not4EU, London , Friday, November 18, 2022, 14:10:

The EU'S obsession with the NI 'border' is because the border is not where is 'should' be, between Ireland & N Ireland, but through the UK. A territorial grab & a methodology of imposing EU regulation via the backdoor with a weak & pro-EU WEFminster who've done 'kall to ensure our country's sovereignty.
For example, VAT. The reason that VAT (an EU construct) was not reduced was that to do so would clearly shine a light on the fact that the UK had not properly left the EU. They are unable to reduce VAT in NI without the EU's 'permission' so they didn't want it obvious that England, Scotland & Wales could have a low rate (though it should be abolished & replaced with a purchase tax), NI would still be under EU rule. So they left it as was. The same will happen with the raft of 'regulations' being imposed on NI. EU rulz will be 'adopted' for the rest of the UK because they've been imposed on NI. It suits the pro-EU globalist appointees as they continue their plan to join, but not overtly, the EU. Why else are they continuing with implementing the EU infrastructure HS2 (which alone would have plugged the 'black hole' of the Govt's own making) and the 'further regional devolution' which bears a remarkable similarity to the EU zoning/balkanisation NUTS system.
A Parliament, not just Govt, that cares & puts more effort in safeguarding foreign countries' borders than the one that they're truely responsible for. It is the prime objective of any Govt.

8. Sparky , Friday, November 18, 2022, 14:35:

No point arguing on the economy now, it's clear that Brexit is causing significant damage to the UK economy. So how about immigration, UK Gov is trying to look tough on immigration whilst issuing 1.1 million visas to Non EU migrants in the year up to June 2022 as well as no longer being able to prevent record numbers of migrants crossing the channel, "Take Back Control", hows that working out. This xenophobic piece attempts to show how EU countries ignore EU rules. When we were in the EU the UK Govt helped decide the rules, accepted the rules, added additional rules to them and then blamed the EU for issuing rules. As a result a slim majority of the UK electorate were persuaded through lies and false promises to shackle the UK economy by leaving. At least people are now opening their eyes, the vociferous Brexit support is being limited to dwindling web sites and the harm of Brexit is starting to be realised. Maybe the UK will rejoin the single market one day, we live in hope but I fear things will need to get worse before we do.

9. Buster , Friday, November 18, 2022, 15:59:

Well said Sparky. I find BBC Question Time quite a good barometer. For the last six years they have been going around the country with audiences full of red faced old men ranting at stuff.
But over the last six months as the Tory Brexit cost of living crisis has hit the audiences have turned massively against Brexit. There are now very large applauses every time someone suggests rejoining Margaret Thatcher’s single market. Yes, it was her who created it - it isn’t some left wing construct. Labour have said they won’t rejoin the EU - and they won’t after the next election. But the pointless economic carnage of Brexit means the single market will be on the table by the election after next. I mean who voted leave to make trade harder, more expensive and more bureaucratic? Anybody? Because that is all Brexit has done.
Free movement - which is why many Brexitists voted leave anyway - will be seen as a good thing after Brits start facing charges and finger print checks just to go on holiday to Spain. The ETIAS visa waiver - which is basically a visa - comes in next year. Brexitists said we would never need one - we will and British holidaymakers will be outaged.
So we will go back into the single market before long. And when we are in the single market the question will be why are we letting ourselves be a rule taker rather than a rule maker? Without EU membership too we can’t help set the rules of the single market which we will have to follow. This will be unacceptable to Britons.
Brexit is wildly unpopular among the under 50s. Demographically, rejoining the EU is inevitable. But it is fun watching Brexit crash and burn in the meantime.

10. Gazzablack , Friday, November 18, 2022, 16:23:

A quick reminder for Sparky
The Eurozone will be in deep recession by the end of this year, has higher unemployment than the UK, record inflation, rampant populism and the Euro is at a 20 year low.
.
Meanwhile Bloomberg reports:
Germany faces an $85 billion hit as Labour shortages intensify.
Airbus, BMW and BASF among major manufacturers short of staff.
Unions demanding steep wage hikes amid record inflation
.
Brexit must be omnipotent and omnipresent if it's hitting Germany as well.

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