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Schengen

Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to Schengen

The Accession Treaty of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU stipulates the provisions of the Schengen acquis which are mandatory and are implemented in Bulgaria since 1 January 2007.

The remaining provisions of the Schengen acquis, mainly concerning the removal of the checks at the internal borders after the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, will be applied following a Council decision, preceded by checks realized through Schengen Evaluation missions in different areas.

Before starting the evaluation procedure, the candidate country for membership in the Schengen area submits the so-called Declaration of Readiness.

The Republic of Bulgaria deposed in September 2007 to the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU its Declaration of Readiness for starting the Schengen Evaluation on 1 January 2008.

With the Declaration the Republic of Bulgaria declared its readiness to finalize its preparation for the full implementation of the provisions of the Schengen legislation with a view of removal of its internal border control in 2011.

With a view to the decisive stage of our preparation for joining the Schengen area, on 17 March 2010 the Council of Ministers approved a new National Action Plan for the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis and for the abolition of the control at the external borders in order to guarantee our successful accession.

The measures and activities envisaged in the Plan are separated in the following areas: legislation, institutional building and administrative capacity, and where necessary – technical equipment.

For every measure and activity are enlisted the respective responsible institutions, deadlines for the implementation and the financial sources.

The implementation of the Plan’s measures will be funded with sources under Ordinance of the Council of Ministers Nr 17 of 15 February 2010 on the approval of the financing of projects related to the fulfillment of the obligations of the Republic of Bulgaria regarding the Accession to the Schengen Area, under the Schengen Facility for facilitating the budgetary financial flows and for supporting the implementation of the Schengen Agreement (Art. 32 of the Act of Accession, 2005), and also under other sources.

On 22 March 2010 Ministry of Interior and Open Society Institute – Sofia signed an Agreement for cooperation. According to the Agreement Open Society Institute – Sofia will carry out civil monitoring on the progress made in the preparation of Bulgaria for the accession to the Schengen area and on the process for the implementation of the funds provided to Bulgaria under the Schengen Facility.

The initiative will raise the public awareness regarding the preparation process and will ensure transparency of the process for the implementation of the funds under the Schengen Facility, as well.