Belgium Seeks Decision on Schengen Expansion in 2013

Didier Reynders, Foreign Minister of Belgium, has said that the country would like a decision on Romania's Schengen accession to be adopted by the end of 2013.

According to reports of Belgium's Foreign Ministry, Reynders and his Romanian counterpart Titus Corlatean discussed the expansion of the Schengen Area of border-free travel and the European Commission's Verification and Co-operation Mechanism (CVM) at a meeting in Brussels on May 28.
Reynders and Corlatean, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), voiced hopes that a decision on Schengen enlargement would be adopted by end-2013.

Any move to expand the Schengen area must be approved by a unanimous vote by all 27 EU governments participating in the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA).

Experts have suggested that Bulgaria and Romania are to join the Schengen Area in one go, but there are still a number of countries which oppose the step, despite claims that they meet all technical criteria for entering the EU passport-free zone.

Adapted from Standart