Norway is 1 of 3 countries that are in the European Economic Area but not part of the European Union is something I didn’t realise until today.

The terms Europe, the Eurozone and EU are not interchangeable and it is important to appreciate the different memberships within “Europe”:

Council of Europe – the council of Europe has 47 members (almost all European states), cannot make laws but among many other functions all members of the council are party to the European Convention on Human Rights.
European Union (EU) – 27 members not all are in the Eurozone
The Eurozone – States that have the Euro as the sole currency and hence the currency is controlled by the European Central Bank
European Economic Area (EEA) – 30 states – the EU is a subset of the EEA
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – 4 states and represents countries who are members of the EEA but not the EU plus switzerland.
Schengen – 26 states – members of Schengen are allowed to cross borders to other Schengen states without the need for border control. Being within the EEA is not a requirement to be within the Schengen Area.
EU Customs Union – 4 states – effectively means that when travelling from another EU customs union state passage can be made through the EU channel rather than the Nothing to declare channel.
Agreement with EU to mint Euros – 3 states – these are states which are not members of the eurozone but are permitted to mint Euro coins because the currency of the state is one of a state that is now part of the eurozone and hence not attached to a monetary system.

This gives rise to a Euler diagram showing which countries are members of what:

So, there are:

17 States in the Eurozone
7 States in the EU without the Euro but within Schengen
3 States in the EU not in Schengen and without the Euro (includes the UK)

This is the 27 EU States

Beyond this are the European non EU nations:

Vatican City can mint Euros but is not Schengen nor EU Customs Union and is also not part of the Council of Europe. All other States mentioned are members of the Council of Europe.
San Marino and Monaco can mint Euros, is part of Eu Customs Union with Monaco also being part of Schengen
Andorra and Turkey can’t mint Euros but are part of EU customs Union
Switzerland is part of EFTA and Schengen
Iceland Lichenstein and Norway are part of EFTA, EEA and Schengen
12 countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzogovina, Croatia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine are part of the Council of Europe

This totals 47 countries that are on the council of europe (48 if we add the vatican in to give the total countries)

“But I knew that” I hear you say… but did you know that there is also a list of special member state territories of the EU many of which aren’t in Europe and some of them have the Euro as currency?

There are about 50 territories which are covered by Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

So I hope that now makes the definition of the EU and the Eurozone clear yet seem not totally European. Even part of the members of the Council of Europe are not in Europe… French Guyana which is an overseas region of France (hence one of the 10 founding members) is in South America!