Schengen - Publications Office of the EU

The name of Schengen, a small village in Luxembourg close to the border with Germany and France, has become synonymous with the free movement of people in Europe. The abolition of internal border controls has gone hand in hand with common rules for controlling external borders and reinforced judicial and police cooperation for combating crime. Each state in the Schengen area is regularly assessed by the EU competent bodies to check that it applies the agreed rules correctly. The Schengen area without internal border controls currently covers 27 countries (23 European Union Member States and 4 associated states), which apply the entire Schengen acquis.