The European Union is not only an economic and political construction, but a union created and developed by the rule of law. From a legal perspective, the Schengen area is a form of enhanced cooperation, i.e. a narrower kind of “union”. According to the EU Treaties and the Act of Accession of Romania, the problem is not “if” Romania will join Schengen, but “when” this will happen. The EU Council’s decision to reject the “Schengen file” turns this “when” into an “if”, in that full membership ends up depending on the discretionary will expressed by any member state.
More details on how, in this context, the Court of Justice of the European Union will decide whether all that matters is unanimity in the Council and any member state can in an eminently arbitrary manner maintain a restriction of fundamental rights, in the analysis carried out by Dragoș Bogdan – Managing Partner and Constantin Cosmin Pintilie – Senior Associate, STOICA & Asociații.