Bulgaria and Romania join Schengen for air and sea travel

Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen Area for air and sea borders on 31 March 2024. Routine checks on people travelling through internal EU airports and seaports were removed after member states approved a staged accession in December 2023.

Land-border checks with other Schengen members remained in place at this stage. Describing the countries as fully border-check free on 31 March would therefore be inaccurate. A later unanimous decision governed removal of land checks.

Both states had joined the European Union in 2007 and had applied much of the Schengen legal framework for years. Schengen participation concerns travel and common external-border responsibilities; it is not the same as EU membership, euro adoption or customs rules for goods.

Airports changed passenger flows so travellers arriving from Schengen locations generally no longer passed routine passport control. Police retained powers for targeted checks and security enforcement. Removal of systematic internal controls does not eliminate identity requirements or immigration law.

EU decisions and border guidance establish the scope and date. This News item highlights the partial nature of the transition and keeps the later land phase separate. The milestone reduced friction for air and sea passengers while leaving politically sensitive land crossings under the previous regime.

The staged approach had been a compromise after Austria withheld consent to land-border entry. Completion at airports and ports was therefore a real legal change even though drivers and rail passengers continued through routine checks at that time.