The European People’s Party and the National Liberal Party from Romania will try to work together with the new European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, coming from Austria, and not against him, and it is expected that he too cooperates for the fastest possible accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area with land borders, PNL MEP Siegfried Muresan said on Monday in Strasbourg.

„We will have meetings with him this very week, including within our political family, and we expect him, in his new position, to be a clear representative of the European Commission’s line, namely that Romania and Bulgaria meet all the conditions for accession to the Schengen area. After being sworn in as commissioner he will be a European commissioner, and the line of all the institutions of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament is to support the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area also with the land border without delay „, said Muresan during a briefing for Romanian journalists.

Magnus Brunner, the commissioner-designate of Austria, is to be heard within the Commission for Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs. The hearings of all appointed commissioners are scheduled to take place between November 4 and 12. Magnus Brunner is a member of the Austrian People’s Party (OVP), a formation that is part of the European People’s Party (EPP).

Muresan, who is also the vice-president of the EPP group in the EP, gave assurances that Magnus Brunner „cannot make Austria’s policy from a European position and I hope that now, after the parliamentary elections in Austria, we will reach a common denominator with the new government of Austria and for this unjustified delay to end”. Muresan expressed his conviction that „from the moment he becomes the European commissioner, Brunner will be a European commissioner more than he is the representative of Austria”.

In addition, believes Siegfried Muresan, the allocation of the migration portfolio gives Austria a tool to contribute to solving the migration problem at the European level, „which was the pretext for delaying the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area”.

The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen space with land borders will also be discussed at this week’s meeting of the Council of Justice and Internal Affairs in Luxembourg, but the PNL MEP maintains that there should be no expectations regarding a decision being made so soon.

The context is a difficult one for the Schengen area, after several countries have reintroduced border controls, and the EP scheduled a debate on Monday about their effect on the free movement area.

„This debate is necessary to find out from the European Commission, first of all, whether these controls comply with the Community acquis, the Schengen acquis and whether they are in line with European legislation,” said Muresan before the debate.

AGERPRES