Moment of relief as Romania and Bulgaria join EU border-free zone

Seventeen years after Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, they have been given the green light to become members of its border-free Schengen travel zone.

The decision by fellow EU member states means that from 1 January 2025, it will be possible to drive all the way to France, Spain or Norway without a passport.

It's a moment of huge relief for the 25 million people who live in Romania and Bulgaria, and who will finally feel accepted as full members of the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a "day of joy".

Although border checks were lifted on travel by air and sea for the two countries last March, it was only last month that Austria lifted its resistance to ending border checks by land.

But for truck drivers, the border bureaucracy is not over yet.

Hungary looks set to continue inspecting each truck and its documents for at least six months at the main Romania-Hungary border crossing at Nadlac.

Bulgaria has built a new truck park and electronic barrier at Ruse, beside the bridge across the Danube to Romania, charging €25 (£20) per truck.

And "temporary" border controls have been imposed across the continent, by countries afraid of a spike in illegal migration.

The Schengen zone first became a reality in 1985 and now includes most EU nations, as well as some non-EU countries, including Norway and Switzerland.

The UK has never been in Schengen, although visitors from the UK can currently visit the zone without a visa for up to 90 days every 180 days.

Hungarian and Romanian border police were coy when I crossed from Hungary into Romania hours before the EU's announcement.

"We'll find out the details tomorrow," said a Hungarian official with a grin.

And it is the devil that may lie in the details.

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Ovidiu Dabija headed for the border at dawn after manoeuvring his SUV with a 31ft-long Sterk powerboat out of a yard in Timisoara, the main city in western Romania.

He drives the powerboat from its home in Germany to one boat show after another. Last week he was in Athens. Next week he will head to the manufacturer's base near Nuremberg.

"Romania joining Schengen is going to save me hours at each border crossing," he tells me in a lay-by beside the Nadlac crossing.

"Our drivers lose at least 12 hours at each border crossing," says Radu Dinescu, head of the Romanian Road-Haulers' Association. "The worst wait was five days at the Hungary-Romania border."

He estimates that the Romanian road transport industry lost €19bn between 2012 and 2023 because of delays at the borders. That pushed up prices which consumers ended up paying.

"The main beneficiaries from 1 January will be the cars and private persons," says Dinescu, although even they will still be subject to random controls.

For trucks, he does not believe there will be much immediate difference.

The big problem for truck drivers, he says, is that all truck inspections take place at the border, from weighing to permits and load-checking, sanitary and environmental examinations, as well as the search for illegal migrants.

In other countries already inside the Schengen zone, such checks take place more swiftly and efficiently in dedicated motorway vehicle parks far from the border.

Radu Dinescu blames successive governments in Romania for failing to negotiate new arrangements with the country's neighbours, to take the pressure off the borders.

He cites an EU regulation from 2008 that calls for the control of the weight and dimensions of trucks to be removed from border crossings between EU members states.

That has never been implemented on the Romanian border with Hungary or on the Romanian border with Bulgaria, because of competition between rival inspectorates.

It's not just about trade, but also investment, says the head of the Romanian Road-Haulers' Association.

When BMW was trying to choose between Hungary and Romania as a site for a new car factory, the wait at the Romania-Hungary border mysteriously increased.

BMW subsequently chose the Hungarian city of Debrecen.

Dacia Renault, Romania's biggest carmaker, faces constant delays in getting parts delivered across Schengen borders. "I don't want to underestimate the value of our land borders joining Schengen, but there is still some work to be done," says Dinescu.

In Timisoara, Philip Cox of Romania's biggest wine exporter, Cramele Recas, is more optimistic.

"Border controls will take a while to wither away," he believes, "but it will happen, perhaps in six months, because it's in everyone's interest."

And that will make his wines more competitive in Europe's western and northern markets, he believes.