The Bridge of Friendship spoke to the secretary general of the National Union of Romanian Road Hauliers (UNTRR) about a possible reaction to the new veto on the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area, the idea of a Bulgarian-Romanian mini-Schengen area and its legal basis. The discussion took place on the sidelines of the conference “United Europe – a path to economic security and sustainable integration”, which took place on 23 November in Ruse.
Mr Dinescu, we are a short distance away from the vote for Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession. There are various signs that suggest it could be a no vote again. How could the Romanian side, including the UNTRR, respond? What action can be taken if there is another no vote that hits the economic interests of Romanians and Romanian businesses?
As I said in our discussion at the end of last year, when we received the first “no”, when we had quite high expectations to be accepted in Schengen, both we in Romania and the Bulgarians and the citizens of Bulgaria, I think that this time we have to keep our optimism and try to have as close discussions as possible, especially with the countries that had the negative vote against Romania and Bulgaria, speaking of Austria and the Netherlands. So that, as far as their demands are proven and justified as bona fide members of the same European Union club, which should also extend the Schengen area to Romania and Bulgaria, so that they can exploit the full potential of the European Union with all the member countries and in Schengen. We are talking a lot about additional costs which we, as economic agents, citizens of the two countries, but also citizens of the European Union who buy services and goods from products in Romania and Bulgaria and who have to pay additional prices because these goods do not move fast enough between our countries and the EU. So, in this context, I think that if the two countries, Austria and the Netherlands, have identified some very clear technical problems, as bona fide members of the same club, I think they should share these problems and possible solutions with the authorities in Romania and Bulgaria to help us overcome them in the shortest possible time and to unlock this potential of the EU with all the Member States and in the Schengen area, because there will really be a significant increase in Gross Domestic Product for both Romania and Bulgaria, but also for the other EU countries, when things are more harmonised between us, as I said last year in December.
Neither Romania, nor Bulgaria have any other way. I mean, like it or not, we are members of the EU. We started this process together and I think we have to continue it until we become and integrate into the Schengen area. Indeed, it is frustrating when we were not accepted at a moment after a moment after a long waiting period, that from 2011 we would have had the possibility to become members, even though we became members of the EU, members of Schengen. Technically, it was possible to become in 2011, we see that 12 years have passed and we are not there and that creates frustration for the citizens of both countries.
What I can say is that we have colleagues from Austria, from the road transport area… The president of the Austrian road transport organisation is very interested in the Schengen enlargement and they have even proposed measures and they have discussed with the Austrian government to consider the Schengen enlargement precisely in order to exploit to the full the potential of the EU countries that are also members in Schengen. And we are happy that the Austrian industry, the economic operators, are very supportive of the two countries, Romania and Bulgaria, to join Schengen. It is a good signal, as the issue is about political will.
But it would have been more tragic if Austrian business had not supported the two countries. The business community in Austria supports the two countries to join Schengen and that is a very important thing and gives me hope, certainly moderate hope for the vote in this one.
At the end of this year, with a lack of acceptance, as you said, if we are rejected again, it means that we have to work harder and harder to try to solve all these problems that are raised by Austria or the Netherlands to be able to join Schengen. Unfortunately, missing this moment will most likely lead to a delay of at least one year, up to three years. We may find that after 2024, when there are elections at European level and elections, for example, in Romania there are elections for everything – local, European, parliamentary, president. In 2025, when the issue will be taken up again, we may very likely get some homework for which we will need a period of time, one or two years, to solve. So we might extend beyond one year, somewhere around two to three years. A positive signal could be given by the Schengen enlargement. On certain segments, for example, air transport to enter Schengen. That would be a signal: ‘OK. We in the European Union are not ready to accept that Romania and Bulgaria fully Schengen, without any conditions, but to have a phased access to Schengen and, first of all, to have access, to have the air transport part accepted, and then to extend to maritime, river and later to land.” It’s probably clear that land, road and rail transport have the highest volume of passengers that the two countries exchange with the European Union. We need to remain moderately optimistic and we need to work together as determinedly as possible to achieve this common goal of both countries joining Schengen.
A year ago, after the Schengen vote, the Romanian National Road Transport Union came up with this idea of a Romanian-Bulgarian mini-Schengen. How do you see this idea a year later?
Honestly, we believe very strongly that we, between Romania and Bulgaria, must continue, I repeat, the steps to join Schengen and until then try to make life easier for each other here in the region. Imagine if in last year’s vote, in December 2023, Austria had given and the Netherlands had given a positive vote. From 1 January this year, we would have abolished border control between Romania and Bulgaria. Why can’t we do this without the Austrian and Dutch votes? I mean, why don’t we apply all the provisions that would be valid under the Schengen Convention between us, without that convention being formally applied, to train, as it were, to see how this convention would work before it is formalised. I would say as a test.
I think this is very important. To facilitate trade, to facilitate transport, to reduce waiting times at borders. Of course, there have been some small problems here, which we are discussing ways of resolving. We’re talking about the car park here, the Ruse ring road. And I come and say any parking for commercial vehicles at European level is welcome, because there is a lack of more than 100,000 parking spaces for professional drivers who need safe parking, where trucks are not attacked, where trucks do not steal cargo or parts from trucks and so on. So safe parking lots with facilities for drivers, which in these requirements are met and offered and this parking lot in Ruse has additional functionality. It organizes and prioritizes trucks for the border crossing to Romania. And this is not bad, especially if this system has been extended to the other car parks in Ruse. But as long as it was the only one where this was happening, I think the other truck parking operators in Ruse were at a competitive disadvantage.
But we come to the part of pricing which is differentiated by the nationality of the operators or by membership of different groups. And here today we have used this opportunity to discuss with the mayor of Ruse, with the Minister of Transport in Bulgaria and we are trying to find some solutions to remove these shadows and to put again the value of this parking investment that the transport industry needs, but at the same time, as Member States in the European Union, we cannot apply discriminatory principles based on nationality or membership of different groups and I think that this, if we manage to revise it in a reasonable way. It would be a great benefit to all parties.
How much legal right do Bulgaria and Romania have to abolish border control?
You should know that it is not like at European level. Each member state is free to do what it wants at national level and also two neighbouring member states in the European Union have quite a lot of rights as far as they agree. I give you a simple example: in Europe we have very strict regulations for the dimensions of trucks and vehicles in general. in the Nordic countries there are those long, modular vehicles of 25 meters and 60 tons. And the European Commission has never had the courage to say “Yes, we are extending these dimensions to all countries in Europe”, because there are quite a lot of contradictory discussions on the subject. On the other hand, If Denmark has accepted these vehicles on the road network, Sweden has accepted these vehicles on the road network, Denmark and Sweden if they have signed an agreement, these vehicles can drive between the two countries. It’s an example, maybe technical or trivial, where something that is not accepted or not generalised in the European Union can be implemented by two neighbouring states if they are in full agreement on how they can do it. For example, Germany only accepts these vehicles on some corridors as an example there are none and other countries do not accept them at all. If they are, I consider them agabaritic and have to pay some appropriate permit fees.
So I think that if there is a political will, there is always a way, and I think that politicians in both countries should look at the common interest of Romania and Bulgaria and the interest of their citizens, rather than sometimes very personal or, I would say, very narrow interests. Everybody should look at the big picture and how much we would have to gain if they, as politicians in these two countries, would really work together for the benefit of the citizens and the economies of the two countries. I think we could really push things forward, but we still have to mention that some authorities or some politicians are taking advantage of certain delicate situations. I mean, we know very well that some people enjoy it when there are queues at the border because they enjoy a little bit of a tip or what we call lubrication and so on. We believe that these kinds of interests must be eliminated. The big picture for the citizens and the economies of both countries needs to be put aside and seen to be big, so that we can really focus on the big things and join Schengen together.
Photo: Radu Dinescu (source: Radu Dinescu)
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