Croatia is ready for Schengen

Croatia meets the necessary conditions to implement all parts of the Schengen acquis.

This is the conclusion reached by the Council of the EU.

The report on the issue was adopted at today's Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. This was announced by Slovenian Interior Minister Ales Hojs, whose country holds the EU presidency.

Verification of implementation is a precondition for the Council to decide on the abolition of internal border controls.

Since joining the EU in 2013, Croatia has been implementing the Schengen provisions. The only exceptions are the provisions on the abolition of internal border controls. It can fall only as a result of a Council decision after an inspection. It must comply with the Schengen evaluation procedures that Zagreb fulfills the conditions.

The Schengen evaluation of Croatia was conducted between 2016 and 2020. In October 2019, the European Commission decided that the country had taken the necessary measures to ensure that the necessary conditions were met for the full implementation of the Schengen acquis. In February 2021, the EC completed the last action plan for the assessed areas.

The purpose of today's conclusions is for the Council to formally establish that Croatia has met the necessary conditions. Their approval is without prejudice to the adoption of the Council decision on the full implementation of the Schengen acquis.

The accession of one country to the Schengen area is confirmed unanimously in the Council. Apart from Croatia, 4 other EU countries are not part of Schengen. These are Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland and Cyprus.

Non-EU countries such as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also part of the agreement.

/ClubZ