During the Justice and Internal Affairs Council, which took place in Brussels on 4th of March 2024, there was an exchange of letters between the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and the Deputy Prime Minister, the Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, which confirms the commitment of the parties to continue, in a more structured framework, the Pilot Project implemented by Romania at the border with Serbia, during the year 2023.
The initiative is among the steps undertaken by Romania to contribute to the effective approach to the current challenges related to migration, taking into account, at the same time, the complementary statements to Council Decision (EU) 2024/210 from December 30th, 2023 regarding the full application of the provisions of the acquis to Schengen area of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania.
The pilot project will result in the further implementation of specific instruments in the field of migration management governance, border management and control, asylum and reception, the return system and strengthened police cooperation in the Schengen area.
The new cooperation framework is based on the already existing collaboration between Romania, the European Commission and the EU Agencies, as well as on the good practices already identified in the pilot project carried out by the Romanian authorities starting with March last year and represents the effective contribution of Romania to the implementation of the decisions formulated at EU level, aiming to provide important lessons for the future, including the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is to be adopted soon.
„The recent agreement about the legislative instruments that are part of the new Pact related to Migration and Asylum, as well as the historic decision of Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area, are intended to strengthen the strength and resilience within the EU.
Starting with March 2023, we are working alongside the European Commission and EU agencies to implement a pilot project based on best practices in the field of border management, asylum, returns, and international cooperation.
It achieved its results, both the EU institutions and the Member States praised our effort and inventoried the positive elements in order to capitalize on them together.
It is time to take a new step and transform the fruitful collaboration, as well as the identified good practices, into a new cooperation framework through which to continue the implementation and strengthen the identified instruments, based on the applicable European and national legislation.
We decided to continue this project as a signal of deep commitment during these challenging times, in order to show once again that Romania has always acted in the spirit of solidarity and responsibility at the EU level that we will continue to be part of common sustainable solutions, which increase confidence in common European values.
In this respect, we are ready to continue the excellent cooperation with the European Commission, the relevant EU agencies, as well as with the other European partners in order to identify innovative ways in terms of migration management”, stated the Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs.
