Minister of Economy: We expect GDP growth between 3% and 5% after joining the euro area and Schengen

The economy ministers of Bulgaria and Romania on november 23 commented on the expectations for accession to Schengen soon.

"There is no way Europe can be competitive if our road haulage companies - those millions of lorries that cross our borders, they wait for 6 hours to cross the border. The losses are significant. What we also take into account is that when Bulgaria joins Schengen and the eurozone, we expect a GDP growth of between 3 and 5 percent," said Bogdan Bogdanov, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Industry.

"We are waiting for a positive vote for both countries in two weeks' time and for all the costs that we are enduring as economic downsides to all be reversed in favour of the two countries Romania and Bulgaria. At the moment the Romanian economy loses 0.5% of GDP every year from not being in Schengen," said Stefan-Radu Oprea, Minister of Economy of Romania.