Bulgaria and Romania are paying a hefty economic and political price for not benefitting fully from the Schengen regime, which also adversely affects the EU’s competitiveness and economic growth. It is high time that the Council of the EU set a date for lifting land border controls between the two countries and the other Schengen Member States, writes Mariya Mincheva, rapporteur of the opinion The cost of non-Schengen for the single market – impact on Bulgaria and Romania.