Three different clubs, three different membership lists
It helps to treat these as three separate agreements that happen to overlap heavily, rather than one club with two subgroups. The full, filterable table of which countries belong to which is on our EU member countries page; this page is about what each club actually does and where they disagree. See which countries are in the EU for the complete list.
The European Union
The EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states with its own parliament, a shared body of law, a single market for goods, services, capital and people, and common external trade policy. Joining requires meeting political and economic criteria and agreeing to the full body of EU law, a process that typically takes years. EU membership is the broadest and most binding of the three commitments.
The eurozone
The eurozone is the group of EU countries that have adopted the euro as their currency and ceded control of monetary policy to the European Central Bank. As of 2026 it has 21 members after Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. Six EU members still use their own currency: Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. All of them except Denmark, which negotiated a permanent treaty opt out, are legally committed to joining once they meet the economic convergence criteria, though several have been in no hurry to do so.
Schengen
Schengen is neither an EU institution nor a currency arrangement. It is a separate treaty area, currently 29 countries, 25 EU member states plus four outside it, that abolished routine passport checks at internal borders. Two EU members sit outside it: Ireland, which opted out to preserve its open border with the non-EU United Kingdom, and Cyprus, which is committed by treaty to join eventually but has not yet done so. Four non-EU countries sit inside it: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, all of which accepted Schengen's border rules through separate association agreements without joining the EU itself. Bulgaria and Romania are the most recent members, admitted for air and sea travel from 31 March 2024 and given full access including land borders from 1 January 2025.
Who is in one club and not the others
The edge cases are where this actually gets interesting. Microstates like Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City use the euro under formal agreements with the EU without belonging to the EU, the eurozone in the institutional sense, or Schengen. Montenegro and Kosovo went further and adopted the euro unilaterally, without any agreement, as a way to import monetary stability, but neither is an EU member and neither has a seat at the European Central Bank. Switzerland and Liechtenstein are inside Schengen's open borders while staying outside the EU entirely and keeping their own currencies. Ireland is the reverse case: fully in the EU and the eurozone, but outside Schengen by choice.
Edge cases at a glance
| Country or territory | In EU | Uses euro | In Schengen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | Yes | Yes | No, opted out |
| Cyprus | Yes | Yes | Not yet, committed by treaty |
| Bulgaria | Yes | Yes, from 1 Jan 2026 | Yes, full access from 1 Jan 2025 |
| Sweden | Yes | No, own currency | Yes |
| Norway | No | No, own currency | Yes |
| Switzerland | No | No, own currency | Yes |
| Iceland | No | No, own currency | Yes |
| Liechtenstein | No | No, own currency | Yes |
| Monaco / San Marino / Vatican City | No | Yes, by agreement | No |
| Montenegro / Kosovo | No | Yes, unilateral | No |
Quick facts
- The EU has 27 members; the eurozone has 21 after Bulgaria joined on 1 January 2026; Schengen has 29.
- Ireland and Cyprus are EU members outside Schengen; Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are in Schengen without being EU members.
- Bulgaria and Romania joined Schengen in two stages: air and sea from 31 March 2024, full land borders from 1 January 2025.
- Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City use the euro by formal agreement; Montenegro and Kosovo use it unilaterally, none of them in the EU.