The fate, or the timing at least, of Romania's Schengen area accession will be decided tomorrow (December 5 ) in Brussels, according to Romania's government spokesman Andrei Zaharescu. The government spokesman said “On December 5, if my information is correct, I know that in the Justice and Home Affairs Council the Commission will make a decision about Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen accession. On the 5th, we will see: it will be delayed until March 2013 or a decision will be made.”

It is all a little mysterious on the Brussels front, the Justice and Home Affairs Council's agenda for December 3 – 16 makes no specific mention of any discussion on Romania and Bulgaria's accession tomorrow, but the agenda is completely clear for December 5.

Likewise, the European Commission's agendas do not refer to any decisions or discussions on Schengen area accession for Bulgaria and Romania. The topic for the EC's weekly closed door College meeting tomorrow is institutional affairs, but “Most of the Commission's decisions are not taken during its meetings.”

Schengen accession has been a sore topic for Romania, whose entry into the Schengen area has been constantly delayed in the last two years, despite Romanian authorities' claims that the country had done all the needed preparations to join the group.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com