Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen Area

On 1 January, Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen Area after the checks on persons at the internal land borders were lifted.  

The internal air and sea border controls between Bulgaria and Romania and the countries of the Schengen area were already lifted since 31 March 2024. Welcoming both member states into the Schengen area will boost travel, trade and tourism and contribute to strengthening the internal market. 

Background 

The Commission first confirmed that both Bulgaria and Romania were ready to become part of the Schengen area in 2011. Since then, Bulgaria and Romania have continued to demonstrate that they fulfil the conditions for becoming Schengen members.  

Schengen Area 

Schengen stands for the world’s largest area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers. It guarantees free movement to more than 450 million EU citizens, along with non-EU nationals living in the EU or visiting the EU as tourists, exchange students or for business purposes (anyone legally present in the EU).   

The Schengen started in 14 June 1985 when the Schengen Agreement was signed on a river boat: the Princesse Marie-Astrid on the Moselle. In Luxembourg, Germany and in France. The agreement was signed by the governments of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.  

The European Union project brought Schengen to its next level. By establishing the right to freedom of movement in 1992, the foundation was laid for a shared European space. The Union framework absorbed all the Schengen rules in 1997 and achieved a further milestone in 2007, enacting the commitment to create an ‘area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers’. The Schengen area is the only region in the world where mutual trust between neighbouring countries is so firmly established, and the value of free movement so fundamental, that its Members took the step to abolish border checks, committing to share both the benefits and the responsibilities of this unparalleled integration. 

Today, the Union has 27 Member States and authorises 26 of them – all except Ireland – to engage in close cooperation in all areas covered by the Schengen rules. 4 non-EU countries are associated in this work: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.  

Schengen is about much more than borderless travel. It calls for coordination both within the Schengen area and with third countries. Schengen States work closely on security and migration through a common visa policy, joint police operations, and real-time information exchanges between law enforcement agencies as well as harmonised procedures to return those with no legal right to stay in the Schengen area. Cutting-edge IT systems, like the Schengen Information System (SIS), help identify threats and manage borders while safeguarding fundamental rights, including data protection.