In the report adopted with 534 votes in favor ;, 53 — “against” and 25 — “abstained”, the EU Parliament approved today, November 11, the entry of Croatia into full membership in the Schengen area.
According to the MEPs, Croatia has fulfilled all the necessary conditions to become a member of the free movement zone, and thus Thus, they called on the Council of Europe to continue the process and take a final decision on the abolition of border controls.
Following the vote on Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area, rapporteur Paulo Rangel stated that Croatia “passed the most thorough assessment to date” and specified that the abolition of internal border controls should take place by the end of 2022.
Thus, as of today, Croatia has implemented 281 recommendations in eight areas of the Schengen legislation. The Commission and the Council confirmed the readiness of the country to apply the Schengen rules in full. The European Parliament fully agrees: the abolition of internal border controls should happen by the end of this year.
In order to ensure that fundamental rights at the external borders of the EU are respected, MPs called on Croatia to inform Parliament, as well as the Council of Europe, about how the country has implemented its EU external border management action plan.
The MEPs also demanded that the Commission access aspects of Croatian fundamental rights and external border management under the Schengen Assessment Programme. Such a request was made following reports of detentions at the Croatian border.
The Council confirmed that Croatia had met all the necessary conditions for the full application of the Schengen rules last year — December 9, 2021. The Council then stated that Croatia had taken the measures necessary to ensure the necessary conditions for the full application of the Schengen legislation.
Other countries belonging to the Schengen area supported the accession of Croatia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed its support for Croatia's accession to the Schengen.