Bulgaria is expected to become a full member of Schengen at the beginning of 2025. Along with the abolition of border controls, the country's GDP will grow by up to 1%. And the prices of many products will fall. There are other benefits as well.
For two years, Austria blocked the abolition of border controls in the EU on the borders with Romania and Bulgaria. Vienna justified its refusal to accept the two countries in the land Schengen with the issue of security and migration pressure, recalls the German "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAC) on the occasion of the expected lifting of restrictions from the beginning of 2025.
The benefits: higher GDP, lower prices
Thus, 18 years after their admission to the EU and 9 months after the abolition of border control at airports and sea stations, Bulgaria and Romania will be able to fully experience all the advantages of their Schengen membership, the publication also states. The Vienna Institute for International Economic Comparisons (WIIW) has calculated how this will affect both countries: Romania's GDP is expected to grow by 0.7 percent, and Bulgaria's by up to 1 percent - just because there are no longer to have border checks at the borders. This represents about half of the growth expected by the EU this year in both countries - 1.4 percent in Romania and 2.4 percent in Bulgaria, specifies FAC. To this we must add the effect of greater certainty in supply planning - something that will lead to an expansion of production and more investment, the director of the Vienna Institute, Richard Grivesson, is quoted as saying.
Economists from the Academy of Sciences in Sofia estimate the damage suffered by Bulgaria from the delayed accession to Schengen at 870 million euros in 2023. Stopping traffic at the borders for checks, mostly at the tracks, means additional over 46 thousand tons of carbon dioxide harmful emissions, they claim. Romanian losses amount to 2.3 billion euros, we learn more from the publication of the FAC.
"Abolition of border controls will support trade, make supply chains more stable, ensure lower prices for European consumers due to greater competition and make countries more attractive for tourists," he said in German edition, the head of the Romanian Chamber of Foreign Trade, Sebastian Metz. Last but not least, all this contributes to "the creation of a stable and trust-filled environment", he also emphasizes.
What is happening in Bulgaria and Romania?
This is exactly what has been missing recently, FAC commented in this regard. In Romania, there is growing skepticism towards the EU and stronger pro-Russian sentiments in society. We see the same picture in Bulgaria, where pro-Russian parties also appear, while pro-Western parties cannot agree on a government. It is the eighth consecutive election in the last four years.
The impotence of politicians affects the real economy. According to BNB data, foreign investments are falling, and subsidies from the EU remain unutilized - either because there are no representative projects, or because Brussels stops the money due to the lack of legal norms. At the beginning of December, the European Commission blocked financing of a total value of 653 million. euro, as Bulgaria has not fulfilled its obligations to liberalize the energy market, fight corruption and reform public procurement.
The missing funds are likely to increase the deficit. That, in turn, could threaten the country's membership of the eurozone, which it has sought for years and which this summer was again delayed – probably for 2026. Rating agency Fitch, which actually has a positive view of the country due to its strong external and government balance, is already sounding the alarm that the lack of a stable government could delay the country's acceptance into the eurozone.
Richard Grivesson of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Comparisons regrets this, as he believes in the economic benefits of membership of the eurozone and the Schengen area. This is proven by the example of Croatia, which adopted the euro in 2023 and also entered Schengen: "Croatia is one of the best performing countries at the moment, which is partly due to the fact that it introduced the euro and the E.U. opened its borders to Croatia", the economist emphasized to the FAC.