The European Commission on Wednesday called for the enlargement of the Schengen area to include Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania as they have met all the technical criteria for joining the passport-free Schengen area, state agency Hina reported.

Today, the European Commission presented a new Strategy to make the largest free travel area in the world – the Schengen area – stronger and more resilient.

“Schengen’s future must be marked by the expansion to those EU Member States that are not yet part of the Schengen area. This is both a legitimate expectation and a legal obligation for those countries evaluated as ready for accession,” the EC says on its web site.

Currently there are 26 members of this passport-free travel area of which 22 are members of the European Union and four are non-EU members: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein.

The EU member-states that are not inside the Schengen area are Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Ireland.

Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria have met the technical requirements for their accession, Cyprus has not yet fulfilled them, while Ireland does not want to join the area, as in that case it would have to impose border checks on the borderline with Northern Ireland.

The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, was quoted as saying that “with today’s Schengen Strategy, we will be stronger outwards to be freer inwards.”

“State-of-the-art IT systems will improve external border management while enhanced police cooperation and common migration management will help reinforce the Schengen area without border checks. Today’s Strategy will foster the trust and governance to allow us to better anticipate, prepare and react and I am committed to making sure all Member States play their part.” she said.

The strategy, unveiled today, includes four targets: to ensure effective management of the EU’s external borders, reinforce the Schengen area internally, improve preparedness and governance as well as enlarge the Schengen area.