European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said on Tuesday that the Schengen area should be restored by lifting internal border checks imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and that it should be completed by admitting Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania as members.  

“The virus is a real danger, but internal border checks have not and will not stop the virus. Only coordinated action will help us to get out of this crisis,” Johansson told a plenary meeting of the European Parliament.

Speaking during discussion on the annual report on Schengen prepared by Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon (S&D), she said it was necessary to move forward.

“Let the start of summer, the summer of 2021, this summer of freedom, inspire us to fully restore the freedom of movement and to get Schengen ready for the future so our children can also work, study and travel all over Europe, when they like and wherever they like. And to complete the Schengen area, it’s time for Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to take their place,” Johansson said.

Croatia expects that its membership of the Schengen passport-free travel area could be put on the agenda during the Slovenian EU presidency in the second half of this year, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in late May.

Rapporteur Fajon spoke of frequent imposition of internal border checks in the Schengen area since 2015, and in particular during the pandemic.

Schengen should now be fully effective, while actually it is completely paralysed, Fajon said. It is on life support, she added.

The Slovenian MEP said that steps should be taken against countries that break the rules and unjustifiably impose border checks.

Fajon also appealed for admitting Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area. We do not accept Europe that functions at two different levels, she concluded.

Croatian MEPs Karlo Ressler and Sunčana Glavak (HDZ/EPP) and Tonino Picula (SDP/S&D) also took part in the discussion.

Freedom of movement without internal borders is a symbol of European integration and should be enjoyed by all EU citizens. With the modernisation of its police service, Croatia now fulfills its duty towards all European citizens by protecting the longest external land border, Ressler said.

Picula said that Schengen should be protected and reinforced as one of the biggest common European achievements and that further enlargement was one of the best ways to do that.

Glavak said that Croatia was making great efforts to prevent illegal border crossings and migrant smuggling.

“I am confident that 2022 will be the year of the beginning of our membership of the Schengen area. I believe that the Council will adopt the recommendations by the European Commission and European Parliament,” Glavak said.

The European Parliament will vote on the annual Schengen report on Wednesday.