EU, EEA, EFTA and Schengen countries

What are the 27 EU countries? What are the EEA and the EFTA? And which countries are members of the Schengen area? See the lists of countries below.

The 27 EU countries

The European Union (EU) has 27 member states:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including Gibraltar, excluding the Channel Islands, BNO passport holders and Isle of Man)

From 31 January 2020 the UK is no longer an EU/EEA member state. However, during the transition period EU law continues to apply.

There are five EU candidate countries. These are countries that are already in the process of incorporating EU legislation into national law.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates. These are countries that do not yet meet the conditions for EU membership.

EEA stands for European Economic Area. There are 30 EEA countries:

EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association. It has 4 member states:

The Schengen area consists of 22 of the 27 EU member states plus the 4 EFTA countries:

The EU member states Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Croatia and Romania are not Schengen countries.