The Schengen area explained

What is Schengen?

The Schengen area is one of the main achievements of the European project. It started in 1985 as an intergovernmental project between five EU countries – France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – and has gradually expanded to become the largest free travel area in the world.

Schengen is the name of a small village in Luxembourg, on the border with Germany and France, where the Schengen Agreement and the Schengen Convention were signed in 1985 and in 1990 respectively.

Being part of an area without internal border controls means that countries:

do not carry out checks at their internal borders, except in cases of specific threats
carry out harmonised controls at their external borders, based on clearly defined criteria

The set of rules governing the Schengen area is called Schengen Borders Code.

Some people are signing a document while sitting. Other people stand behind them. One holds a sign with the text "zoll/douane" with a cross over it. — Signature of the Schengen Agreement (14 June 1985)

Which countries are part of Schengen?

Today, the Schengen area covers over 4 million square kilometres with a population of over 450 million people, and includes 29 countries:

25 of the 27 EU member states
all members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)

On 30 December 2023, the Council agreed to lift the air and sea internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania. On 12 December 2024, the Council decided to remove checks on persons also at the internal land borders with and between the two countries. As a result, from 1 January 2025 Bulgaria and Romania are fully part of the Schengen area.

Schengen: Council decides to lift land border controls with Bulgaria and Romania (press release, 12 December 2024)

Controls at the internal borders with Cyprus have not yet been lifted, and Ireland is not part of the Schengen area.

What are the benefits of Schengen?

The Schengen area allows more than 450 million people to travel freely between member countries without going through border controls.

Every day around 3.5 million people cross internal borders for work or study or to visit families and friends, and almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen country while working in another.

Europeans make an estimated 1.25 billion journeys within the Schengen area every year, which also greatly benefits the tourism and cultural sector.

The Schengen area brings significant economic benefits to all citizens and businesses in its participating states. It is designed to be the bedrock of the European Union and of the single market as a whole.

Can non-EU nationals benefit from Schengen?

Non-EU nationals living in the EU or visiting the EU as tourists, exchange students or for business purposes can also travel through the Schengen countries without going through border controls.

For travellers transiting through or intending to stay in the Schengen area for a short period, the EU has established common visa rules.

An EU common visa policy is necessary for the effective functioning of the border-free Schengen area as it facilitates the entry of visitors into the EU, while strengthening internal security.

Map of Europe, indicating the countries that issue Schengen visas and the countries that don't.

The Schengen visa (infographic)

How has Schengen improved security in the EU?

One of the main aims of the Schengen area is to protect its citizens through increased cooperation between the police forces, customs authorities and external border control authorities of all the member states. These new forms of cooperation have been introduced to offset any risk of a security deficit arising from the abolition of internal border controls.

In the context of law enforcement cooperation, the Schengen area allows for:

improved systems of communication between police forces
hot pursuit of criminals
cross-border surveillance of suspects
mutual operational assistance
direct exchanges of information between police authorities

This is an enormous advantage in the fight against terrorism and against serious and organised crime, including trafficking in human beings and illegal migration.

How do countries join the Schengen area?

Countries willing to join the Schengen area must fulfil a list of pre-conditions. They must:

apply the common set of Schengen rules (the so-called ‘Schengen acquis’), e.g. regarding border controls, visa issuance, police cooperation and protection of personal data
take responsibility for controlling the external borders on behalf of other Schengen countries and for issuing uniform Schengen visas
efficiently cooperate with law enforcement agencies in other Schengen countries so as to maintain a high level of security once internal border controls have been abolished
connect to and use the Schengen Information System (SIS)

Countries wishing to join the Schengen area must undergo a series of evaluations to determine whether they fulfil the conditions necessary for the application of the Schengen rules.

Once the evaluation confirms the readiness of a member state to join the Schengen area without internal border controls, all other member of the Schengen area have to approve the decision unanimously, after consulting the European Parliament.

Can border controls within the Schengen area be reintroduced?

Several EU countries decided to reintroduce internal border controls between 2020 and 2022 in the context of COVID-19. Controls have also been reintroduced in other circumstances, including in 2015, following terrorist attacks or the increase of migration flows into the EU.

The reintroduction of internal border controls should only take place as a last-resort option.

In case of exceptional circumstances

In case of exceptional circumstances which put the overall functioning of the Schengen area at risk, the Council can recommend that one or more member states reintroduce border controls, based on a proposal by the European Commission. This is a measure of last resort.

In such situations, the Council can recommend that one or more member states reintroduce border controls, based on a proposal by the European Commission.

Checks introduced in the case of exceptional circumstances require the approval of the Council.

To respond to a serious threat

The Schengen borders code also stipulates that member states can introduce temporary border controls to respond to a serious threat to public policy or internal security.

In this case, the member state concerned must notify the Commission and the other Schengen countries at least four weeks before checks are introduced, or within a shorter period if the circumstances are not known in advance. This reintroduction of internal checks does not require the Council's approval.

How are Schengen’s external borders protected?

The EU and its member states have established concrete measures to safeguard Europe's security and reinforce the EU's external borders.

These include, for example, the creation of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the development of the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Authorities across the EU use the SIS to enter or consult alerts about wanted or missing people and objects. The system contains approximately 86.5 million alerts, and in 2022 authorities consulted it 35 million times a day.

The SIS also provides instructions to authorities on how to react when a person or object is found, such as:

arresting a wanted person
protecting a vulnerable missing person
seizing an illegal or stolen object

The following IT tools that will help fight crime and secure borders are being upgraded or are under development:

Visa Information System (VIS)
Entry/Exit System (EES)
European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)

EU-wide IT systems for security and migration (infographic)