Schengen area: Council agrees to lift air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania

 

EU member states have reached an agreement on removing air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania. The decision has been taken by unanimity, following a written procedure.

I am very pleased that in 2024 air and maritime internal controls between Bulgaria and Romania and the other Schengen countries will become a thing of the past, after 12 years of negotiations. We are thus continuing to build an ever wider and stronger area of free movement.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez, Spanish Minister for the Interior

From 31 March 2024, there will no longer be checks on persons at EU internal air and maritime borders between Bulgaria and Romania and the other countries in the Schengen area. This date corresponds with the change of the winter/summer schedule set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Following this first step, a further decision should be taken by the Council to establish a date for the lifting of checks at internal land borders.

Tags: Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez, EU