A tale of two visa regimes – Repercussions of Romania’s accession to the EU on the freedom of movement of Moldovan citizens
A tale of two visa regimes – Repercussions of Romania’s accession to the EU on the freedom of movement of Moldovan citizens

Summary/Abstract: The present paper brings to the fore and discusses the little known issue of the effects of Romania’s accession to the EU, planned for 1 January 2007, on the freedom of movement of Moldovan citizens. In view of its accession to the EU, border controls at the Romanian border have over the past few years been gradually tightened by Romanian authorities and Romania is currently negotiating the first-ever introduction of a visa regime with the Republic of Moldova. However, in order not to disrupt the various ties (social, economic, cultural) that link both countries, Romania is seeking to devise a visa regime ‘light’, but which is also capable of dispelling any EU concerns with regard to border controls and illegal migration. Three types of agreements for a flexible visa regime between Romania and Moldova will be discussed in the paper, i.e. the Polish and the Hungarian types of agreements and a third, mixed type that could be implemented after Romania becomes a fully-fledged Schengen state in 2010. Light will also be shed on certain problematic aspects pertaining to the introduction of a visa regime between Romania and Moldova. In the second part, the paper also addresses the issues of introducing a facilitated visa regime between the EU and Moldova, where it will be argued that it is mainly Moldova who has all the hard work and the convincing to do. The paper also argues that the present rigidity of the Schengen acquis which Romania has accepted as part of its accession obligations might actually encourage rather than discourage illegal migration from Moldova and this, exactly, is what the EU fears and seeks to address with its tight border controls and rigid visa regime. Therefore, the paper concludes that ways must be found, even outside the EU framework in order to render the Schengen acquis more flexible and adapted to the realities of the region.

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