Three different clubs, one name
People often use "the EU" to mean three overlapping but different things: the political and economic union of 27 member states, the eurozone of countries that share the euro currency, and the Schengen area of countries that have abolished passport checks at their shared borders. Membership in the EU does not automatically mean either of the other two. Some EU countries keep their own currency by choice, some are still working toward euro adoption, and a few non-EU countries belong to Schengen without being EU members at all. The table below separates all three so you can see exactly which apply to a given country.
All 27 EU member countries
Use the buttons to filter the table: EU shows all 27 members, Eurozone shows only the countries using the euro, and Schengen shows only the countries in the passport free travel area. The table is fully readable with the buttons ignored, since every row already shows its own status in the Euro and Schengen columns.
| Country | Joined EU | Uses the euro | Schengen member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 1995 | Yes | Yes |
| Belgium | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Bulgaria | 2007 | Yes, from 1 January 2026 | Yes |
| Croatia | 2013 | Yes | Yes |
| Cyprus | 2004 | Yes | No |
| Czechia | 2004 | No, koruna | Yes |
| Denmark | 1973 | No, krone | Yes |
| Estonia | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Finland | 1995 | Yes | Yes |
| France | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Greece | 1981 | Yes | Yes |
| Hungary | 2004 | No, forint | Yes |
| Ireland | 1973 | Yes | No |
| Italy | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Latvia | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Lithuania | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Luxembourg | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Malta | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Netherlands | 1958 | Yes | Yes |
| Poland | 2004 | No, zloty | Yes |
| Portugal | 1986 | Yes | Yes |
| Romania | 2007 | No, leu | Yes |
| Slovakia | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Slovenia | 2004 | Yes | Yes |
| Spain | 1986 | Yes | Yes |
| Sweden | 1995 | No, krona | Yes |
Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, becoming the 21st eurozone member; the lev and euro circulated together for a transition month before the lev was withdrawn. Six EU members, Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden, keep their own currency. Bulgaria and Romania became full Schengen members, including land borders, on 1 January 2025; Ireland and Cyprus remain the only EU members outside Schengen.
Brexit and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973 and left the EU on 31 January 2020, following the 2016 referendum, after a transition period that ran through the end of that year. It is the only country to have left the union. The UK was never part of the eurozone or Schengen while a member, having negotiated opt outs from both, so its departure did not change either of those groupings.
Countries working toward membership
Nine countries currently hold official EU candidate status: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkiye and Ukraine. Candidate status means a country is formally in the process of negotiating alignment with EU law and standards, a process that historically has taken many years even for countries that eventually join. Kosovo has applied but is not yet a formal candidate, and its status is complicated by the fact that not all EU members recognize it as independent.
Quick facts
- 27 countries are EU members, from 6 founding members in 1958 to Croatia joining in 2013.
- 21 EU members use the euro as of 2026, after Bulgaria adopted it on 1 January 2026.
- Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are EU members that keep their own currency.
- 25 EU members belong to the Schengen area; Ireland and Cyprus are the exceptions.
- Nine countries hold official EU candidate status as of 2026.
- The United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020, the only member to have done so.