Schengen Area

The Schengen Area is a European travel zone in which participating countries normally do not conduct checks on persons at their shared internal borders. It combines border-free internal movement with common rules for external-border checks, short-stay visas and security cooperation; it is related to, but not identical with, the European Union.

Evolution and membership

The Schengen Agreement, 1985 initiated the gradual removal of internal-border checks, while the Schengen Convention, 1990 supplied implementing rules that became operational in 1995. The Schengen acquis was incorporated into the EU legal framework through the Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force in 1999.

• From 1 January 2025, the area comprises 29 countries: 25 EU members and Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
• Ireland does not participate in the border-free area, while Cyprus has not yet fully joined it; therefore, EU and Schengen membership are not identical.

How border-free movement works

People may ordinarily cross internal Schengen borders without routine checks, irrespective of nationality. This removal of checks does not itself create a right to work or reside, which depends on EU free-movement law or national immigration rules.

• Participating states apply coordinated checks at external borders and a common policy for short-stay Schengen visas.
• A qualifying short stay is generally limited to 90 days in any 180-day period.
• The Schengen Information System enables authorities to share alerts concerning persons and objects for border, migration and law-enforcement purposes.

Safeguards and limits

Border-free movement is not absolute. Under the Schengen Borders Code, a state may temporarily restore internal-border controls as a last-resort, proportionate response to a serious threat to public policy or internal security.

• Schengen abolishes routine internal checks, not national borders or the participating states' responsibility for policing and immigration enforcement.
• Common external-border management seeks to reconcile mobility within the area with control over entry from outside it.

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