The 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
EU candidate countries
There are 8 EU candidate countries. These are countries that are already in the process of incorporating EU legislation into national law.
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
Georgia and Kosovo are potential candidates. These are countries that do not yet meet the conditions for EU membership.
The 30 EEA countries
EEA stands for European Economic Area. There are 30 EEA countries:
- The 27 EU member states
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
The 4 EFTA countries
EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association. It has 4 member states:
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
- Switzerland
The Schengen countries
The Schengen area consists of the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Croatia (as of 1 January 2023)
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
The EU member states Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania are not Schengen countries.