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

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

Full list available here

30 EEA countries

EEA stands for European Economic Area. There are 30 EEA countries:

  • The 27 EU member states plus
  • Liechtenstein
  • Iceland
  • Norway

4 EFTA countries

EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association. It has 4 member states:

  • Iceland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Norway
  • Switzerland

27 Schengen countries

The Schengen Area 2023

The Schengen area consists of 22 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

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.

Non Schengen countries

There are five EU countries not part of schengen area (de facto). They are are strong candidates to join the expansion of Schengen area

  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia (likely in 2024)
  • Cyprus
  • Romania
  • Ireland

Note: Ireland has opted out of schengen area.