EU delays Bulgaria, Romania passport-free decision
Schengen
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union on Thursday dismissed Bulgarian and Romanian calls to join Europe's Schengen passport-free zone, delaying any vote on the issue until at least the end of this year.
The 27-state EU bloc "decided to address this issue again by the end of 2013 with a view to considering the way forward," said a statement issued after a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers.
At the weekend, Germany had warned that it would veto Romania and Bulgaria joining the 26-country passport-free Schengen area if they pushed the issue at the meeting in Brussels.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Spiegel news weekly that while the EU believed Romania and Bulgaria had made progress towards membership, both still needed to do much more to combat corruption.
Any move to expand the Schengen area, home to 400 million Europeans who can cross national jurisdictional borders without passports, needs a unanimous vote.
The Netherlands has also opposed moves to allow the two countries into the Schengen area amid concerns about an uncontrolled influx of illegal entrants.