Relations with the European Union
Liechtenstein and the EU – a close partnership
Liechtenstein is not a member of the European Union, but nevertheless closely tied to the EU. Liechtenstein has been part of the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1995 and thus participates in the European Internal Market, including its four freedoms (free movement of goods, capital, services, and persons). In addition, Liechtenstein has participated in EU programmes for many years, e.g. in the areas of education and culture (for the EU programming period 2021-27: Erasmus, European Solidarity Corps, Single Market Programme, Digital Europe, Creative Europe). Liechtenstein is furthermore a donor state of the EEA Financial Mechanism (also known as EEA Grants), which supports efforts aimed at reducing economic and social disparities within the EEA.
Since 2011, Liechtenstein has been an associated member of the EU’s Schengen/Dublin system. Due to Schengen, Liechtenstein’s citizens benefit from the elimination of systematic controls at internal Schengen borders. The Dublin system aims at ensuring that asylum applications are processed only in the country of first arrival of the applicant.
Furthermore, Liechtenstein and the European Union work closely together in other areas, including tax cooperation and transparency. On 1 January 2016, the bilateral Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information entered into force.
Every two years, the Council of the European Union assesses the status of the EU’s relations with Liechtenstein. In this context, Liechtenstein also has the opportunity to present its view on these relations. Below are the most recent documents in this regard:
2022: EU Council conclusions on Liechtenstein-EU relations
2022: Presentation on Liechtenstein-EU relations
2018: EU Council conclusions on Liechtenstein-EU relations
2018: Presentation on Liechtenstein – EU relations
2016: EU Council conclusions on Liechtenstein – EU relations