EU Council to lift air and sea travel curbs on Romanians, Bulgarians

Member countries of the European Union (EU) have unanimously agreed to lift all air and maritime border controls with Bulgaria and Romania, commencing 31 March 2024.

This will end all checks on individuals at EU internal air and maritime borders on Bulgaria and Romania and the other Schengen countries, paving the way for the two countries to gain full access to the Schengen area, according to the EU Council.

The date corresponds to the change of the winter/summer schedule set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The EU council said it would take further steps to establish a date for the lifting of checks at internal land borders.

The decision extends the EU's passport-free travel zone, called the Schengen area, to 25 of the 27 EU countries, excluding EU members Ireland and Cyprus, where EU citizens still must have a passport to enter. The Schengen area also includes Norway and Switzerland, which are not part of the EU. 

Since their accession to the EU, Bulgaria and Romania have applied parts of the Schengen legal framework (the Schengen acquis), including those related to the external border controls, police cooperation and the use of the Schengen Information System, according to an EU Council release.

Romanians and Bulgarians will still face passport checks when crossing land borders to their EU neighbours, though talks on lifting them as well will continue in 2024 and a decision is to be taken on that "within a reasonable time frame", the European Commission said in a statement.

For the remaining parts of the Schengen acquis, which include the lifting of controls at internal borders and related measures, the Council decides unanimously on their application after it has been verified, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures, that they fulfil the necessary conditions, it added.

Their full entry to the zone would leave Ireland and Cyprus as the only EU countries outside the passport-free zone.