The government of the Netherlands has sent an evaluation mission to Romania to verify the country's readiness for accession to the Schengen area, according to G4Media.ro quoting the Dutch Embassy in Bucharest.

The mission is made up of experts and will last until the end of this week. It follows and duplicates a similar mission carried out by experts of the European Union, which concluded that Romania meets the accession criteria.

The European Commission subsequently called upon the Council to take the necessary decisions "without any further delay" to allow the three countries subject to evaluations (including Romania) to fully participate in the border-free area.

However, the Dutch parliament urged the government of the Netherlands to abstain from irreversible steps regarding Romania's Schengen accession until they analyse the functioning of the rule of law and the reduction of corruption and organised crime in both Romania and Bulgaria.

However, on November 16, "Brussels has said that there is no reason to hold back such a decision any longer, suggesting that the Netherlands should approve of these countries to join the Schengen Area and no longer be subject to border controls," according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The European Commission said that it is 'beyond any doubt' that Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled all the required conditions to become part of the area and has urged all the EU Member States to give the green light for the Schengen Area expansion.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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