Bulgaria and Romania set to take benefit from Schengen full membership

Checks on the internal land borders with Bulgaria and Romania will be lifted definitively from 1 January 2025 after the decision adopted by EU Home Affairs Ministers in their last meeting at the EU level.
The arrivals of migrants from the Balkan route have prompted Austria to put Romania and Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen on hold, which is a decision that requires unanimity.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told journalists on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting that “without this veto, this massive reduction in illegal border crossings would not have happened.” This last step was long awaited since, in December 2023, the Council only lifted checks on persons at internal air and sea borders.

The Council also gave the final green light to a new regulation that asks airlines to transmit passenger data – including travel document data, flight details, and baggage information – to the authorities before passengers reach the EU’s external borders. The new rules will allow authorities to conduct advance checks and assess potential security risks more in advance. A final vote on a second regulation on the use of advanced passenger information represents a new step to support the prevention, detection, and prosecution of terrorism and serious crime. This second text allows a better link between advanced passenger information data and passenger name records.

Ministers also discussed the new developments in Syria after the jihadist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Many EU countries are ready to enforce their return decision involving Syrian refugees. However, the new European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, stressed the fact that Syria could not yet be considered a safe country. In an end-of-meeting press conference, he emphasized the role of voluntary returns. “I think we have to engage with voluntary repatriations. Also, when it comes to the issue of money, we have to support them financially,” he told journalists.

He also pledged the adoption within the first quarter of 2025 of a new legislative proposal on returns. The list of the safe third countries is expected by June of the same year.

EU Ministers also successfully reached a general approach on a proposed directive, setting out minimal rules to prevent migrant smuggling. According to the adopted rules, Member States must ensure that in their national law, intentionally assisting a third-country national to enter, transit across, or stay within the territory of any European Union member state in exchange for financial or material benefit constitutes a criminal offense.

The regulation also sets out a minimum term of imprisonment of three years for people responsible for migrant smuggling. The maximum penalty levels should extend to at least eight years. Member states may decide to impose more extended maximum penalties. The text also provides rules on penalties for legal persons: either a percentage of the total worldwide turnover or a fixed amount, up to €40 million.

EU Ministers also voted in favor of updating the definition of child abuse sexual offenses. This new progress was necessary to criminalize and better prosecute live-streaming child sexual abuse. The text also addresses the case of realistic images of children produced by the use of deepfake or AI-generated abuse material. Additional provisions introduce higher penalties with a maximum of imprisonment of at least 10 years in case of a vulnerable situation of the child, such as disability.

The text agreed by the Council leaves space to the Member States to define the age of sexual consent below which it is prohibited to engage in sexual activities with a child. Minister, however, amended the rules proposed by the Commission to make also punishable circumstances where consent is lacking and the victim has passed the age of sexual consent.