For Bulgaria and Romania, the costs of not being full members of the Schengen area are counted in billions of euros. The transport and tourism sectors of both countries are most affected and checks at land borders create huge barriers for Romanian and Bulgarian companies, restricting their competitiveness and preventing them from fully reaping the benefits of the single market

Non-full membership in the Schengen area costs Bulgaria more than EUR 834 million per year. Romania loses EUR 2.32 billion in annual revenues from not participating fully in Europe’s border-free regime, with losses for its transport operators amounting to another 90 million annually due to delays at the country’s land borders.

The figures were presented at the conference The cost of non-membership of Schengen for the Single Market – impact on Bulgaria and Romania, which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 24 September. The event was jointly organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)and the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA).

  • @[email protected]English
    22•3 months ago

    Thanks Austria, very cool. The domestic politics bump they got for being “tough on migration” sure was worth delaying our full Schengen status. /s

    • @[email protected]English
      14•3 months ago

      I’m sure it gets better now that the nazi party got relative majority in the elections /s

      Can only hope nobody wants to form a coalition with them

      • @harlatanEnglish
        6•3 months ago

        yup, as an austrian i back these statements