Before the expansion of the Schengen area on 21 December 2007, the common Schengen area was formed by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.

Together with Latvia, the following states acceded to the Schengen area on 21 December 2007: Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary – all the states that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, with the exception of Cyprus.