No decision on the Schengen bids of Bulgaria and Romania is expected by end-2013, according to a diplomatic source from the Council of the European Union.

The unnamed source told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) that the issue of the Schengen expansion had become entirely political and no decision was expected at the current stage.

The diplomat reminded that the countries which blocked a consensus decision on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen were the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

The diplomatic source suggested that achieving consensus would be difficult because a number of countries were skeptical about the expansion of the Schengen border-free travel zone.

The source emphasized that the situation would not change and even if the reports of the European Commission under the co-operation and verification mechanism due in end-2013 were positive.

Asked to comment on the plans for preventing benefit tourism from Eastern Europe to Western Europe, the diplomat stated that it was most important that the EU observed its own legislation.

After the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in early March it emerged that only ten countries had declared their support for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen.

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