Three territories of EU member states have withdrawn: French Algeria (in 1962, upon independence), Greenland (in 1985, following a referendum) and Saint Barthélemy (in 2012), the latter two becoming Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union.

When ‘EU’ is an open syllable — the vowel is the last sound in the syllable — it sounds more or less like the ‘U’ in the English word “full”: listen. When in a closed syllable, ‘EU’ is pronounced with a slightly more open mouth: listen.

The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Switzerland signed a free-trade agreement with the then European Economic Community in 1972, which entered into force in 1973. However, after a Swiss referendum held on 6 December 1992 rejected EEA membership by 50.3% to 49.7%, the Swiss government decided to suspend negotiations for EU membership until further notice.

Denmark has been a member of the EU since 1973 and has had a Eurosceptic majority for a long time; nevertheless a majority support continued Danish membership of the EU. Traditionally, Denmark has limited the extent that it will share its sovereignty with the rest of the European community.

EUR 1,164.77 mil. In 2016 the taxpayers of Denmark contributed to the European Union 204 euros per head over what they received. Since its accession to the EU the country has paid to the European Union EUR 8541 million over what it has received.

Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987. Since 2016 accession negotiations have stalled.

Turkey is one of the EU’s main partners and both are members of the European Union–Turkey Customs Union. Turkey borders two EU member states: Bulgaria and Greece. Turkey has been an applicant to accede to the EU since 1987, but since 2016 accession negotiations have stalled.

Throughout the Cold War, Turkey’s most important ally has been the United States, which shared Turkey’s interest in containing Soviet expansion.

The United Kingdom is not part of the Schengen zone and therefore you are not allowed to enter the UK with a Schengen visa. UK residents might need to apply for a Schengen visa if they want to travel from the UK to other countries in the EU.

However, two EU countries, the UK and Ireland decided to opt out of Schengen. There are also four countries which are in the Schengen Area but are not EU member states: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Three microstates are also included in the Schengen Area: Monaco, Vatican City, and San Marino.

/ˈʃeŋən/ (also the Schengen Agreement, us/ˈʃeŋən əˌɡriːmənt/ uk/ˈʃeŋən əˌɡriːmənt/) an agreement between many countries of the European Union that allows people and goods to pass freely across the borders of each country without passport or other controls.

Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland have all acceded to the Schengen Agreement and are thus …

In conclusion, the main reason Ireland did not join the Schengen Agreement is because they wish to control the immigration status of non EU citizens. Ireland is not part of mainland Europe, and it made sense for the country to control their borders the way they see fit.

Germany