Austria is still firmly opposed to the long-coveted Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria, arguing the passport-free area needs to become "better" before becoming "bigger." #EuropeNews
Governments in Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and Denmark have invoked this provision to cope with a continued rise in migration flows.
An affiliate of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), Karner defends a hard-line position on migration and has touted the possibility of striking a deal with a non-EU country to outsource the processing of asylum applications.
Spain had previously said the gathering on 5 December would feature a binding vote on the Schengen applications of Romania and Bulgaria, two countries that have been waiting to join the passport-free area since they entered the EU in 2007.
But upon seeing the vote was bound to fail, as was the case in December last year, Spanish officials opted instead to have a “state of play” on the joint bids and the overall situation across the passport-free area.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s home affairs minister, told reporters his country would continue to work “very hard” on the topic “until the end of our presidency,” a remark that appeared to suggest the applications could be put to a vote sometime later this month.
A fact-finding mission recently sent to Bulgaria has brought back “really successful” results about the country’s preparation to join the passport-free area, said Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
The original article contains 654 words, the summary contains 212 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Governments in Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and Denmark have invoked this provision to cope with a continued rise in migration flows.
An affiliate of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), Karner defends a hard-line position on migration and has touted the possibility of striking a deal with a non-EU country to outsource the processing of asylum applications.
Spain had previously said the gathering on 5 December would feature a binding vote on the Schengen applications of Romania and Bulgaria, two countries that have been waiting to join the passport-free area since they entered the EU in 2007.
But upon seeing the vote was bound to fail, as was the case in December last year, Spanish officials opted instead to have a “state of play” on the joint bids and the overall situation across the passport-free area.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s home affairs minister, told reporters his country would continue to work “very hard” on the topic “until the end of our presidency,” a remark that appeared to suggest the applications could be put to a vote sometime later this month.
A fact-finding mission recently sent to Bulgaria has brought back “really successful” results about the country’s preparation to join the passport-free area, said Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
The original article contains 654 words, the summary contains 212 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!