Wednesday, October 4, 2017

The EP has granted Bulgaria access to the Schengen visa information system

If the decision is finally adopted by the European Council, Sofia will be able to see which citizens are denied entry into Schengen. The European Parliament (EP) has approved Bulgaria and Romania to have access to the Visa Information System( VIS) of the Schengen area. This access will allow both countries to check information for non-EU nationals. However, we will not have the right to enter, modify, or delete data in the system. The aim of the VIS is to improve the implementation of the EU's "common visa policy" and to prevent cases where a candidate who is refused entry to a Schengen country can file documents in another country and get approval. 
The vote in the EP confirms earlier approval by the European Council. According to European deputies, Sofia and Bucharest have fulfilled all the terms of the Schengen agreement on air, sea and land borders, police cooperation, protection of personal data and visas.
The final decision on whether the two countries can join the Schengen area, albeit incompletely, and thus stop systematic border checks with neighboring EU countries, must be taken unanimously by all member states of the European Council. The European Commission (EC) has called for this decision to be taken swiftly.

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