The Schengen Area - Statistics & Facts

After the EU’s enlargement to Eastern Europe in 2004, many citizens of former communist countries moved to the West seeking better jobs, while enjoying free movement as EU citizens. The issue played a key role in the Brexit debate, as leavers campaigned that Brexit would give back to the UK the control over its borders and would limit immigration from mainland Europe. They also highlighted that the lack of internal border controls would allow non-EU migrants to move more freely between European countries. To contrast this, some countries have recently reintroduced checks at their borders with other Schengen states. While the EU’s open border policy has created countless opportunities for its citizens and has enormous economic advantages, the past decade has seen increasing opposition to this policy due to its role in potentially fostering illegal immigration.

Timeline of Schengen Agreement

Freedom of Movement principles have been translated into practice with the establishment of the Schengen Area, a common space where EU citizens and third-country nationals holding a valid visa or residence permit can freely travel without internal border checks. The foundations of the Area date to 1985, when France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium signed the Schengen Agreement in Schengen, Luxembourg, with the purpose of harmonizing visa policies and gradually phasing out border controls, that were finally abolished when the Schengen Convention that implemented the Agreement entered into force in 1995. The Area was later joined by Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, and Greece. The 1999 treaty of Amsterdam incorporated the Schengen Agreement and the Convention into the EU legal framework, making an obligation for every member state to join the Schengen space.

Schengen Area member states and accession requirements

With Bulgaria and Romania lifting land border checks on January 1, 2025, the Schengen Area now encompasses 29 countries, of which 25 are EU member states, in addition to Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Cyprus and Ireland are the only EU states that do not belong to the Area. The former is obligated to join as it has been part of the EU since 2004, but the accession is made difficult by virtue of the controversial geopolitical situation of the island. Ireland opted-out from the Schengen obligations and maintains an independent visa and immigration policy. Similar to Ireland, the UK never joined the Schengen Area while it was a member of the EU from 1973 to 2020. The absence of border checks between countries was at the core of the Brexit debate, with Brexit supporters asserting that this would have potentially let illegal migrants reach the UK and threaten public security due to ineffective policing carried out by local officers at the external borders.



To join the Schengen Area, countries must fulfill a common set of rules and criteria such as harmonized border checks, a common visa policy, and police cooperation, known as the Schengen acquis. Moreover, states must take responsibility to patrol their external borders on behalf of other Schengen countries, they must promote an intra-Schengen cooperation between law enforcement agencies, and participate in the Schengen Information System (SIS), a common platform for the exchange of border management and security information. Once the requirements are met, the Council agrees upon the membership, that must be confirmed by all other member countries.

The Schengen visas

The Schengen Area constitutes the largest border-free travel area in the world, enabling 458 million people to freely move between different countries. Third-country nationals that enter the Area need a visa, even though some can access the Schengen space visa-free. Travelers must apply for a visa to the country of first entrance in the Schengen Area. If papers are granted, they can generally travel without limitations and border checks to any Schengen state. Irish and Cypriot visas do not allow travel to other EU/Schengen states.

Schengen countries issue standard visas according to the reason of travel and the duration of stay. Most commonly, the short-stay type C Uniform Visa allows traveling in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180 days period. It permits one, two, or multiple entries. If certain conditions are met, the C visa can have a validity of one, two, or five years. This is usually granted for tourism purposes. For exceptional security or humanitarian reasons only, the Uniform Visa regime can be derogated by emitting a Limited Territorial Validity (LTV) visa that forbids the holder to exit the Schengen country that issued the document. If a third-country national wishes to stay longer than 90 days, one must apply for a type D National Visa released by a specific Schengen country, typically for education or employment purposes in that country. Holders of a D visa can in any case travel and settle in other Schengen states for up to three months.

External borders policing and reintroduction of checks

The Schengen Area enables millions of Europeans to travel, study, and work across the continent while avoiding immigration formalities. Free movement of people stands at the root of the European Single Market, facilitating cross-border employment, trade, and taxation. In fact, 80 percent of EU citizens believe that Schengen promotes business in the Union. To maintain the citizens’ security within the Area, a strengthened surveillance of external borders is essential, which encompasses a continuous collaboration between police forces coordinated by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, known as Frontex. The Syrian civil war, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict later, have put under serious stress the Schengen system’s functioning, with millions of refugees seeking asylum in Europe straining the resources of border controls.

It is a faculty of states to temporarily reintroduce controls due to exceptional public security concerns for a limited period only, as prescribed by the Schengen Convention. In recent years, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the Schengen mechanism, resulting in a suspension of the Agreement. To reduce the spread of the virus, European countries closed their borders and enforced strict checks. As of 2025, border checks are implemented in ten countries, including Germany, France, and Italy, to counter possible terrorist threats and illegal immigration.