Bulgaria loses over BGN 1 billion a year due to non-admission to Schengen by land

Bulgaria’s economy suffers losses of hundreds of millions of euros every year from not being accepted into Schengen by land. The queues of lorries at the borders continue, and the country pays between 15% and 18% more for goods in the shops because of this alone.

More than a billion BGN a year is lost because Bulgaria is not a full member of Schengen. The most serious situation is not on our northern border with Romania. At the Danube Bridge, there is an average wait of between 14 and 16 hours to cross the border. The Union of International Carriers demanded that Bulgaria be quickly accepted fully into Schengen and that the losses be reduced.

Here's what the lorry drivers have to say:

"The losses are huge. I pay the driver 100 euros a day and while he is waiting here today, I lose two hundred BGN. Not to mention the vehicle. I am transporting sneakers, we had a grumble from the forwarders asking why why we did not pass. We explained that there is Internet and they could check that a minimum of 43 hours were are waiting in the parking lot. And then you go, see what the lorries are and after another 6 hours you pass".

“Forget the losses, sitting here for two or three days in the heat, in the cold, is enough. You are going somewhere and instead of getting there in three or four days, you get there in five or six – twice as long."

The cost of not accepting Bulgaria into land-based Schengen is over a billion BGN, and that is a staggering figure.

"The main elements are the paid time of drivers at the borders, the lost benefits of Bulgarian businesses and the fact that they cannot operate because of the waiting. This is the time to mention that the waiting time at Vidin Bridge 2 is on average 16 hours, which effectively kills a working day for each haulier."

The decision will be political and will not happen before the new European Parliament is formed.

"We are going into the second half of the year. It is clear that for this thing to happen there has to be a new European Commission, so the realistic timeframe I think is towards the end of the year when the country could possibly become a full member of Schengen, given there is good work from our institutions."