Romania, Bulgaria face delay in joining Schengen

Germany and France have urged the European Union to delay bringing Romania and Bulgaria into the bloc's borderless travel zone, due to concerns about their ability to combat corruption and crime.     

The two Black Sea states hope to join the Schengen zone, which includes most of the EU, in March but Berlin and Paris are likely to block this.

"In our opinion it is still premature to envisage the entry into the Schengen zone in March 2011," the interior ministers of France and Germany wrote in a letter, seen by Reuters, to the European Commission this week.                                           

Since joining the EU in 2007, Romania and Bulgaria have made only limited progress in fighting corruption and organised crime, and have faced repeated criticism from the bloc's executive Commission which monitors their efforts.                                           

This has raised concerns in the EU about the countries' ability to curb the flow of trafficking in people and drugs from eastern Europe to the west. 

Illegal migrants and asylum seekers, crossing into EU member Greece from Turkey, can also use Romania and Bulgaria as a route to western Europe at a time when many governments in the bloc are trying to curb immigration.

Interior ministers Brice Hortefeux of France and Thomas de Maiziere of Germany urged the EU to postpone any discussion of Schengen entry for the two states until they strengthen the ability of the judiciary and public administration to combat abuses.   

"Deficiencies ... would have serious consequences for the internal security of the European Union and each member state," they wrote in the letter addressed also to their Hungarian counterpart Sandor Pinter.                                           

Hungary will oversee the bloc's discussions on many policy areas between January and June, when it holds its rotating presidency.