A lot of confusion exists in property understanding EU and Schengen countries. Remember European Union (EU) is not the same as Europe. Here is some basic difference. Europe is first of all is a continent. The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 27 EU countries that together cover much of the continent. A total of 44 nations are part of Europe, there are only 27 EU member states.
We have compiled full list of EU/EEA and Schengen countries.
27 EU countries
The European Union (EU) has 27 member states:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- . Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
Source: Government of Netherlands
Non EU countries
These are non EU countries. Because of this nationals of these countries are not EU citizens. You wont get EU citizenship in these countries.
- United Kingdom
- Iceland
- Norway
- Liechtenstein
- Switzerland
- Andorra
- San Marino
- Greenland
Source: europa.eu
30 EEA countries
EEA stands for European Economic Area. There are 30 EEA countries:
- The 27 EU member states +
- Liechtenstein
- Iceland
- Norway
4 EFTA countries
EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association. It has 4 member states:
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
- Switzerland
Source: EFTA
27 Schengen Countries
|
Country |
Schengen Area (Join date) |
|
Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain |
26 March 1995 |
| Italy | 26 March 1997 |
|
Austria |
1 December 1997 |
| Greece | 26 March 2000 |
|
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden |
25 March 2001 |
|
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia |
21 December 2007 |
|
Switzerland |
12 December 2008 (land borders), 29 March 2009 (air frontiers) |
|
Liechtenstein |
19 December 2011 |
| Croatia | 01 January 2023 (land borders), March 2023 (air borders) |
Infographic – Map of Schengen area
The Schengen area consists of 23 of the 27 EU member states plus the 4 EFTA countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Croatia (Joined Jan 1, 2023)
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Source: European commission
5 EU candidate countries
There are five EU candidate countries for acquis. These are countries that are already in the process of incorporating EU legislation into national law.
- Turkey
- Montenegro (likely in 2025)
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates. These are countries that do not yet meet the conditions for EU membership.
Future Schengen countries
There EU countries not part of schengen area. They are are strong candidates to join the expansion of Schengen area
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Romania
- Ireland
Note: Ireland has opted out of schengen area.
DeFacto
These 3 european microstates, maintain open borders for passenger traffic with their neighbours, and are therefore considered de facto members of the Schengen Area due to the practical impossibility of travelling to or from them without transiting through at least one Schengen member country
- Monaco,
- San Marino
- Vatican City
Source: Wikipedia
