Schengen poses tough hurdle for candidates

Summary:

On paper at least, two-thirds of the enlargement negotiations have now been completed, with most of the applicant states. Romania and Bulgaria remain far behind, but the other ten candidates have provisionally closed around 20 of the 30 chapters on the negotiating agenda. Hungary and Cyprus lead the field, at 22, with Poland the current back-marker on 17. In practice, the process is less far advanced than these numbers would suggest, as most of the more difficult chapters have been left to the end. The first of these to be tackled, justice and home affairs, including the Schengen Agreement on abolishing internal border controls, may well prove the most complex. To start with, the acquis communautaire in this area is both fairly new and changing rapidly.