15 September, 2017
Recently, he invited Bulgaria and Romania to join borderless Schengen area as soon as they can.
Taragonna. The European Commission would "respect" a Yes vote in a referendum on Catalan independence, Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday, but Catalonia shouldn't expect to become an EU member straight after such a vote.
Of the 28 European Union member states, Great Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia were left outside the Schengen area.
German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said he sees for Romania and Bulgaria "no possibility of entering the Schengen area".
ID border checking was introduced in September 2015 at the beginning of the refugee crisis. The EU President told the European Parliament that Brexit would be a "sad, tragic" moment for the EU but that the 27-member union would "move on".
The first negative reaction following Juncker's statements came from Austria.
"It simply makes no sense to enlarge the euro zone before this has not been dealt with, because (otherwise) problems would get bigger", Kern said, pointing to Greece's struggle for years on the verge of bankruptcy as a prime example of such problems.
"It is high time to bring Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area".
"We should also allow Croatia to become a full Schengen member once it meets all the criteria", he added.
Echoing a stance made by his predecessor, Jose Manuel Barroso, Juncker said any newly independent state must follow the same European Union membership procedures as all aspirants, citing Scotland and, in jest, his home country, Luxembourg.
On the other hand, EC President Juncker proposed to have a European summit in Sibiu, right after the Brexit is completed, i.e. on March 30, 2019, one day after the deadline to complete the Brexit.
