Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement is a treaty that created a special area in Europe called the Schengen Area. In this area, people can travel between countries without stopping at borders for checks.

The agreement was signed on June 14, 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five countries that were part of the European Economic Community at the time.

Later, in 1990, the Schengen Convention added rules to fully remove internal border checks and create a common visa policy for all countries in the area.

Today, the Schengen Area includes 29 European countries. Travelers entering or leaving the area go through border checks, but once inside, they can move freely between countries without further checks. The rules of the Schengen Area became part of European Union law in 1999 through the Amsterdam Treaty, though some countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom chose not to join. The United Kingdom later withdrew from the EU in 2020. Some non-EU countries are also part of the Schengen Area through special agreements.

History

The idea of people moving freely was part of the original Treaty of Rome. Early European Economic Community members could travel between countries with their passports or national identity cards, but many borders still had checks.

In 1985, five countries — Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany — signed an agreement to slowly remove border checks. They signed it near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg. Three of these countries had already removed checks in 1970.

The Schengen Agreement was separate from the European Union because not all EU members agreed on removing border checks. The Agreement made travel easier between borders.

In 1990, rules were added to fully remove internal border checks and create a common visa policy. By 1995, some countries started using these rules, and by 1997, most EU countries except the United Kingdom and Ireland joined.

In 2016, some countries brought back temporary border checks due to the European migrant crisis. Checks were also added during events like the UEFA Euro 2004 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Croatia joined the Schengen Area on 1 January 2023. Bulgaria and Romania became full members on 1 January 2025.

Starting in 2025, the Entry/Exit System began replacing manual passport stamps with electronic checks to improve border security.