site.btaBulgarian MEP: Minute per Truck Limit for Checks at Internal EU Borders Will End Bottlenecks

Bulgarian MEP Andrey Novakov said here on Wednesday that work has been underway for half a year now on initiating legislation at the European Parliament that would limit the time for checks at all checkpoints on EU internal borders to one minute per truck.

This would end the bottleneck at the Bulgarian city of Ruse (on the Danube) which local residents resent. 

"One hundred thousand signatures are needed to submit a petition to the European Parliament by which all EU institutions will be approached to address the issue: order a check into the causes of the traffic congestion and pressure all Member States that contribute to this problem," Novakov said.

To ease traffic in the city, effective Tuesday, the Interior Ministry has ordered the police to halt trucks heading towards the border crossing in four suitable locations in the areas of Razgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Stara Zagora and Byala and allow them to proceed after a go-ahead is given by the Ministry's Regional Directorate in Ruse.

Cargo vehicles are still waiting in kilometres-long lines to reach the Ruse-Giurgiu bridge over the Danube but, unlike recent days, the traffic is not jammed, a BTA reporter saw on Wednesday.

The ministries of transport and communications, regional development and public works, and interior have formed an interdepartmental working group, which has considered an idea to reorganize traffic so as to ensure that is runs seamlessly in both directions and ban standing, the Transport Ministry said in a press release. 

After taking office, caretaker Transport and Communications Minister Hristo Aleksiev and caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev assigned the responsible institutions to develop and implement short-term measures to normalize the operation of Bulgaria's border crossings. Aleksiev will initiate a meeting with Romanian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Mihai Grindeanu for finding long-term solutions to speed up cross-border traffic between the two countries, the press release noted.