EC Library Guide on the Schengen area: Introduction
Introduction
About this Library Guide
This Library Guide has been compiled to support the work of the European Commission. It may also be of interest to students, researchers and the wider public.
The Library Guide presents a curated selection of relevant sources on the topic: EU websites, EU publications, EU law, EU statistics and data, EU research results, international publications, peer-reviewed research journals and articles, books, think tank reports and news updates.
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Schengen Area
Schengen is the world’s largest area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers. It guarantees free movement to more than 450 million EU citizens, along with non-EU nationals living in the EU or visiting the EU as tourists, exchange students or for business purposes (anyone legally present in the EU).
Over the last four decades, the Schengen area without internal frontiers was expanded nine times since 1985, with Bulgaria and Romania being the last countries to fully join on 1 January 2025.
The Schengen area without internal frontiers is composed of 29 Schengen States: 25 EU Member States and 4 non-EU countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Together with Cyprus, with whom internal border controls have not yet been abolished, these countries engage in closer cooperation allowing them to achieve greater benefits that would be impossible to attain individually.
Source: European Commission
The resources listed in the EC Library Guides do not necessarily represent the positions, policies or opinions of the EU institutions and bodies.