mr president i would like to say to the commissioner that european citizens are losing confidence and trust in more and more european programmes
it is important that we do not push further forward at a speed and rate we are not fully prepared for
this is a feeling felt by many member states with regard to the schengen area and we should not rush with further expansion before all involved are fully and sufficiently ready and prepared
of course i must stress that this debate should not be used as an excuse to criticise either bulgaria or romania who we know have been working very hard to meet the technical criteria that the commission has set
although there may well be disagreement between us as to whether those criteria have been met much has been done
but this is an opportunity to talk about renewing faith in the schengen system and the integrity of the european union itself and an opportunity to improve a completely outdated and ineffective evaluation mechanism
we are currently dealing with a system which is not able to deal with the current or future challenges europe faces or the political views of its member states
now is the time to set criteria which not only deal with the technical aspects of the schengen system but assess the impact of organised crime and corruption also within the assessment of existing schengen member states and i would like to see europol and eurojust involved in those assessments
perhaps such a new evaluation mechanism would help prevent some of the differences of opinion and lack of confidence in the current system which we are hearing not only in this chamber but right across europe at the present time
