EU split over newest members joining ID-check-free zone

European Union countries are weighing on Thursday whether the bloc’s three newest members – Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia – can fully open their borders and participate in Europe’s ID-check-free travel zone, but more delays to their entry appear likely.
A green light would be a boon for their economies. The so-called Schengen area is the world’s largest free travel zone. It comprises 26 countries – 22 EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Almost 1.7 million people live in one Schengen country and work in another. Around 3.5 million people cross an internal border each day.
But full accession for the EU’s newest members – Bulgaria and Romania joined the bloc in 2007, Croatia in 2013 – requires unanimous support from their partners, and objections were still being raised on the eve of a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels meant to examine their cases.
The three countries already partly adhere to the Schengen rulebook, but internal border controls have yet to be lifted. The hold-up has long been over concerns among the trio’s partners about the reach of organized crime, unauthorized migration, and other security concerns.