European Justice Commissioner: Schengen expansion is mostly political issue
Bucharest, January 24 (AZERTAC). European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has suggested that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen is more of a political decision, despite the technical criteria set by the EC.
"We must find a way together to build confidence in the judiciary because it will be at the basis of each political decision which will be made in the future," Reding observed in a Wednesday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), stressing the importance of asserting judicial independence in Bulgaria.
Asked to comment whether she supported the introduction of additional requirements for Schengen membership by countries like the Netherlands, Reding argued that no new criteria had been adopted.
"The criteria were set and the European Commission conducted an analysis and gave the green light to the expansion of Schengen on the basis of technical requirements. However, the political sensitivity - whether you have trust in a certain country and how you treat it - this has nothing to do with the criteria but involves feeling," the EU`s Justice Commissioner said.
"You just cannot leave aside the feeling which one government has about another one with additional criteria" she stated, adding that "seeking to build trust had nothing to do with extra criteria."
Reding emphasized that she was working in close cooperation with Bulgarian Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva.
Regarding the situation with the Roma in the EU, Reding noted that the fact that authorities could not afford mass expulsions of Roma was not enough and that more had to be done about their integration in their home countries.
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