The original agreement to allow unhampered movement was signed near Schengen, a small town in Luxembourg, on 14th June, 1985.<br /><br /> European Economic Community Member States Belgium, France, the pre-reunification Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands swept away internal border checks.<br /><br /> A convention was added in 1990 and the arrangement entered force in 1995, with seven EU members on board — now including Spain and Portugal. Barriers and border buildings were dismantled 20 years ago.<br /><br /> Greatly expanded from the initial five EEC states, the Schengen Area now has 26 signatory countries. This guarantees free movement for some 417 million citizens, and many non-EU nationals, within a 4 million square kilometre space, carrying basic ID, which the authorities, as a rule, do not ask to see.<br /><br /> Twenty-two of the 28 EU states are part of Schengen, plus four non-EU members: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. On the Schengen waiting list are Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania
