The new EU members criticise Brussels

Radek Honzak notes that the new EU member states of central and eastern Europe have recently been increasingly voicing their disapproval of EU decisions with one voice. "There are several reasons for their dissatisfaction. Frequently voiced complaints are the delayed access to the Schengen Agreement, the EU's failure to step up pressure on the US to exempt them from visa obligations, the continued restrictions on free movement of their workers and the unequal conditions for the introduction of the euro. … At least as far as the Schengen Agreement is concerned, it seems their demands may now bear fruit. Apparently the older EU states are now willing to support the idea of simply extending the current Schengen Information System to cover the new member states rather than waiting for the new version of the data system to be available. This would mean that restrictions on freedom of movement within the EU for citizens of the new member states would come to an end in October 2007, as planned. And Western Europe would no longer be suspected of deliberately trying to delay the extension of the Schengen Agreement."

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