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:

  1. Austria
  2. Belgium
  3. Bulgaria
  4. Croatia
  5. Cyprus
  6. Czech Republic
  7. Denmark
  8. Estonia
  9. Finland
  10. France
  11.  Germany
  12.  Greece
  13.  Hungary
  14.  Ireland
  15. Italy
  16. . Latvia
  17.   Lithuania
  18.  Luxembourg
  19.  Malta
  20.  Netherlands
  21.  Poland
  22. Portugal
  23.  Romania
  24.  Slovakia
  25.  Slovenia
  26.  Spain
  27.  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.

  1. United Kingdom
  2. Iceland
  3. Norway
  4. Liechtenstein
  5. Switzerland
  6. Andorra
  7. San Marino
  8. 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)

Map of Schengen Area

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