"There is a possibility that this decision [on Romania's Schengen accession] will be delayed for a month or two" until all the questions of other states, such as Austria, the Netherlands or Sweden, receive clear answers, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis stated on November 23 in Riga.

The final deadline for the decision regarding Romania's accession to Schengen is not December 8, he stressed, according to News.ro.

President Iohannis outlined the imminent termination of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) – an obstacle invoked by some of the states refusing Romania's accession to the no-custom association – and also pointed out the positive findings announced by the supplementary inspection mission sent by the Netherlands and other countries to check Romania's readiness for Schengen membership.

The European Commission published on November 23 the report of the new evaluation mission regarding Romania's accession to Schengen, which was carried out by experts from the Netherlands and other countries.

The report of the evaluation mission is similar to that of the previous mission and is favourable to Romania and Bulgaria, showing that "Romania continues to meet the necessary conditions for the application of all relevant parts of the Schengen acquis in its entirety," according to G4media.ro.

The Dutch experts were invited by the Romanian government after Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the European Commission's initial assessment mission was incomplete.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)