Romania and Bulgaria became members of the European Union's Schengen area

Why in news?

• Recently Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the European Union's Schengen area.
• With this, the number of member countries of the Schengen area has increased to 29.

Schengen area:

• Schengen is mainly called the passport free area of ​​Europe.
• It is also the world's largest visa free travel area.
• On 14 June 1985, five of the ten member countries of the then European Economic Community signed the Schengen Agreement in the Schengen city of Luxembourg.
• This agreement led to the creation of Europe's Schengen area, in which Europe's internal border barriers were largely eliminated.
• The Schengen rules were incorporated into EU law in 1999 by the Amsterdam Agreement.
• The member countries of the Schengen Area have officially abolished passport and all other forms of border controls at their mutual borders.
• These countries form a joint travel area by abolishing border controls among themselves.
• Its purpose is to allow citizens, tourists, and business people to travel freely within these countries without border checks.
• Currently 25 of the 27 EU member countries have become members of the Schengen Area, except Cyprus and Ireland.
• Non-EU member countries - Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.