Europe, European Union and Schengen are different things altogether. Every country in Europe is a European country. Not all European countries are members of the European Union. Not all countries in Europe are part of the Schengen Agreement. And not all European Union members are part of the Schengen Agreement. Also, there are members of Schengen that are not part of the European Union. This can be confusing but the rest of the post explains it better.
Europe
Europe is a continent just like Africa, South America and North America.
How many countries are in Europe?
Europe consists of 44 countries.
What are the 44 countries in Europe?
Below is a list of all the 44 countries in Europe:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic (Czechia)
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Holy See
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
EU
EU is the abbreviation for European Union. The EU is a political and economic union made up of some European countries that have come together to achieve common goals among which are to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens, offer freedom, security and justice without international borders, ensure sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive market economy with full employment and social progress, and environmental protection and others.
The EU also has established an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro.
Though the name is European Union, not all European countries are members. Joining the EU is a complex procedure that takes years to complete. Once an applicant country meets the conditions for membership, it must implement EU rules and regulations in all areas.
Schengen
Schengen is an agreement between many countries of Europe that allows people and goods to pass freely across the borders of each country without a passport, visa or other controls. The agreement also allows member countries to issue a common visa to visitors which can be used to travel to all member states once valid.
List of European Union member countries
Not all European countries are part of the EU. The EU has 27 members. Below is a list of European Union member countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
Which countries are not in the EU?
The following countries in Europe are not part of the European Union:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Belarus
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Holy See
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
How many Schengen countries are in Europe?
Schengen consists of 26 countries. Membership is opened to countries in Europe. Below is a list of Schengen countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- 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