Bulgaria lost 0.7 billion euros this year alone, including 423 million euros in direct losses and 225 million euros in lost benefits, according to Euractiv.
Caretaker Economy Minister Petko Nikolov stated that the losses were due to the fact that the country was not fully accepted into the Schengen zone. Bulgaria, together with Romania, became members of the Schengen area at the end of March, but only in terms of air and sea borders.
The results of the full admission of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen are not a one-off effect but will intensify with deeper economic integration between European countries, which means that each successive postponement will cause greater lost benefits for both the Bulgarian and the European economy.
Nikolov cited a report prepared for the ministry by the Institute of Economic Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His assessment was much gloomier than the annual losses of 0.5 billion euros announced earlier by the Union of International Carriers.
The interim minister also noted that Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen land borders would result in carbon dioxide emissions savings in transport worth 3.75 million euros.
In April, Bulgarian MEP and ALDE co-leader Ilhan Kyuchyuk (DPS) said Bulgaria was unlikely to become a full member of Schengen this year. He was referring to elections in Austria, the main opponent of Bulgaria and Romania joining the zone.
However, Nikolov stated on Monday that joining the Schengen zone was a crucial moment for European integration.
“We appreciate as extremely positive the fact that Hungary has made our accession by land a priority. We highly appreciate Hungary’s support for a quick, sooner, and I would say life-saving accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen, and I hope by the end of the year this will become a fact.”
The Bulgarian government also noted that joining Schengen would ease heavy traffic at the borders with Romania and Greece and lead to rapid development of logistics infrastructure in the region.
Increasing trade volume, reducing costs for exporters by freeing up transport resources from trucks waiting at the border, reducing travel time, saving on administrative checks at the border, reducing delivery times, increasing growth potential of border areas, the environmental effect of ending trucks waiting at borders.
