The Schengen treaty is an agreement originally signed in on June 14, 1985, by seven European Union countries. Schengen is a small town in Luxembourg.

Full implementation of the Schengen treaty began in July 1995 with the removal of internal border controls between six of seven Schengen member states.

Additional countries have since joined the treaty, and as of 2003, there are fifteen Schengen signatories, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Together, these countries are known as the Schengen area.

The goal of the treaty is to end border checkpoints and controls within the Schengen area and harmonize external border controls.

All Schengen countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members. Conversely, the United Kingdom and Ireland are in the European Union but are not parties to the Schengen treaty.

See also: Schengen Information System.

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