EU president invites Bulgaria and Romania to join borderless Schengen area 'immediately'

Bulgaria and Romania should “immediately” join the EU’s borderless Schengen area, the president of the European Commission has said.

Jean-Claude Juncker used his annual state of the union address to propose a series of reforms to the EU – mostly concerned with tighter integration and averting a so-called two-speed Europe.

As well as the expansion of the borderless area, the president proposed action to encourage all applicable EU members to adopt the euro as their currency. Mr Juncker proposed the creation of a new programme to provide technical and financial assistance to would be adopters.

The European Parliament and European presidencies also needed reform, Mr Juncker said – laying out proposals for trans-national lists and a single unified EU presidency..

Addressing the expansion of Schengen, Mr Juncker argued: “A more united Union also needs to become more inclusive. If we want to strengthen the protection of our external borders, then we need to open the Schengen area of free movement to Bulgaria and Romania immediately.

“We should also allow Croatia to become a full Schengen member once it meets all the criteria.

“If we want the euro to unite rather than divide our continent, then it should be more than the currency of a select group of countries. The euro is meant to be the single currency of the European Union as a whole.

“All but two of our Member States are required and entitled to join the euro once they fulfil all conditions.

“Member States that want to join the euro must be able to do so. This is why I am proposing to create a Euro-accession Instrument, offering technical and even financial assistance.”

Some parts of the Schengen agreement have been temporarily suspended in recent years to deal with Europe’s migration crisis – with some countries re-introducing temporary border controls.

The area includes 26 European states – 22 of the 28 EU states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Ireland and the UK have opted out. There are no passport checks for any travel between countries within the area.

Other structural reforms to the EU proposed in the speech include plans for some members of the European Parliament to be elected by trans-European lists – a move which would see all 500 million EU citizens vote for the same sets of candidates in popular elections for the first time ever. Mr Juncker admitted the idea would face opposition from some existing MEPs, but argued that "such lists would help make European Parliament elections more European and more democratic".

Another significant reform proposed in the speech was the idea of merging the posts of European Commission president and European Council president. The President argued that “Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship".

"Having a single President would better reflect the true nature of our European Union as both a Union of States and a Union of citizens," he said.

Such a proposal will face push-back from some member states, however – who see the Council president as representing their interests against those of the Commission.

Mr Juncker also used his speech to comment on Brexit, warning Britain that it would likely “regret” leaving the union.