Schengen treaty: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Schengen treaty is an agreement originally signed in on June 14, 1985, by seven European Union countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain). The agreement was signed in Schengen, a small town in Luxembourg on the border with France and Germany.

Full implementation of the Schengen treaty began in July 1995 with the removal of internal border controls between six of seven Schengen member states.

Additional countries have since joined the treaty, and as of 2003, there are fifteen Schengen signatories, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Together, these countries are known as the Schengen area. The ten EU countries Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are in fact members of the Schengen treaty but the procedures will not be applied before 2006 or later, with the date of application set for every country independently from the others.

On May 19, 2004, the European Commission announced in consequence of talks between European and Swiss officials that it expected Switzerland to join the Schengen treaty within the next three years.

The goal of the treaty is to end border checkpoints and controls within the Schengen area and harmonize external border controls.

All Schengen countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members. Two EU members (Ireland and the United Kingdom) are in the European Union but have reserved to remain outside the Schengen area.

The European Union and candidates for enlargement
Member countries: Austria | Belgium | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Netherlands | Poland | Portugal | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | United Kingdom
Candidate countries joining on January 1, 2007 (preliminary date): Bulgaria | Romania
Other recognised candidate countries: Croatia | Turkey