Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area: revolution in travel!

Bulgaria and Romania have been full members of the Schengen area since January 1, 2025. With this step, border surveillance at the national borders will no longer be necessary, which will make things easier for travelers. In particular, travelers no longer have to show identification documents at the borders with other Schengen states such as Hungary, Greece and Serbia. These changes lead to a smoother traffic flow and reduce waiting times for car and train travelers and truck drivers. The controls were lifted for air and ship travelers in March 2024.

However, the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria and Romania is still pending. While Bulgaria could possibly introduce the euro on January 1, 2026, depending on inflation developments, Romania expects a change to the euro around 2029. The necessary technical infrastructure in Bulgaria already exists. The lack of full Schengen membership has cost Bulgaria over 834 million euros annually and Romania 2.32 billion euros in revenue. In addition, the Romanian transport industry suffered annual losses of 90 million euros due to border delays. By December 2024, Austria had vetoed both countries' Schengen accession due to concerns about irregular migration.

EU decision and effects

The EU decision to admit Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area was passed unanimously by the 27 member states. A total of 29 countries now belong to the Schengen area, including Germany, France and the non-EU states Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. However, many governments have reintroduced border controls under pressure from irregular migration. The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser welcomed the Schengen expansion and emphasized the secure external border protection of both countries.

Romania and Bulgaria have been waiting for the decision on Schengen expansion since 2011. Both countries joined the EU in 2007 and were under special surveillance by the EU Commission until September 2024 due to corruption and organized crime. The Schengen Agreement today also regulates cooperation between police authorities to combat cross-border crimes, such as merkur.de reported, and was also reported by the tagesschau.de discussed further.