# Travelling between countries in the EU



## Toronto_boise (Apr 6, 2006)

My teacher once said that you could drive between countries in the E.U. without a passport or stopping at the border. Is this true?


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## grachtengordeldier (Mar 7, 2006)

Yes it is true, at least for the Schengen countries (Benelux, France, Germany). You don't have to stop, no passport. Just a sign saying 'Willkommen in Deutschland" or whatever. I think it's a bit the same for the other EU-member countries. All the old custom houses, posts etc are more or less abandoned.


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## OurHero (Sep 26, 2004)

It includes a lot more countries than those just mentioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement

However, you still can be checked at any border. The Schengen nations have preserved the right to do so. For example I was checked on the evening/night train from Paris to Amsterdam when crossing both borders (entering Belgium and entering The Netherlands). People are still obligated to carry a passport or ID.


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

For all other EU-countries who are (not yet) full member of the Schengen-Agreement there are border controls, but as an EU-citizen you just need your ID-card and not a passport. Additionally there are some countries (for example Turkey) where an ID-card is enough for EU-citizen to enter the country although this country is not a member of the EU.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

OurHero said:


> It includes a lot more countries than those just mentioned.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement
> 
> However, you still can be checked at any border. The Schengen nations have preserved the right to do so. For example I was checked on the evening/night train from Paris to Amsterdam when crossing both borders (entering Belgium and entering The Netherlands). People are still obligated to carry a passport or ID.


Paris-Amsterdam travels are an exeption, as a lot of french people travel to the Netherlands for weed, and try to bring back some


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

You still need a passport to enter the UK from continental Europe as the UK government has opted out of the Schengen agreement. Travelling from the UK to Ireland though you don't have to go through customs or show passports etc.


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Jonesy55 said:


> You still need a passport to enter the UK from continental Europe as the UK government has opted out of the Schengen agreement. Travelling from the UK to Ireland though you don't have to go through customs or show passports etc.


For me my ID-card was enough to enter the UK. AFAIK you don't have an ID-card system in the UK?


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

DiggerD21 said:


> For me my ID-card was enough to enter the UK. AFAIK you don't have an ID-card system in the UK?


not yet no. Did you really get in without passport? I'm calling immigration


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Jonesy55 said:


> not yet no. Did you really get in without passport? I'm calling immigration


I never had a passport in my life 









I only have an ID-card (like this specimen)









The difference between these two: You get automatically an ID-card when turning 16 while you have to apply for a passport which you only need if you want to travel outside of the EU (+ some additional countries).


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## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

> Paris-Amsterdam travels are an exeption, as a lot of french people travel to the Netherlands for weed, and try to bring back some


If the EU law would really be enforced, they could... But well, somehow these liberties don't seem to apply to harmless hippies but only to big enterprizes and cattle transports...


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## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

Miss Mustermann is extraordinarily pretty in that pic.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

We don't have a ID system in Denmark, but that doesn't stop us from going away without a passport 

Even pre-shengen we didn't need anything for travels around in Scandinavia..

But ofcause somekind of ID ( driver licens, passport or social secutity/healtcare card ) is a good thing to bring..


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Jonesy55 said:


> not yet no. Did you really get in without passport? I'm calling immigration


Seriously, you don't need a passport for the UK or Ireland despite not being in the Schengen pact, if coming from any of the 13 Schengen nations. An ID is enough (but you need at least an ID card) You can check this on the EU website - it's really easy to find.


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Generally speaking, the rule for the 13 Schengen Pact countries (and a couple extra in Scandanavia I believe) is that you can just cross the border without any controls. In most cases, the border posts have been dismantled.

There are plenty of urban areas that straddle borders where you may not even know that you've crossed into another country until you see the differences (maybe language, or type of signs, telephone booths etc)

It is effectively the same as crossing a state border - in fact, crossing some state borders like between NSW and South Australia have more controls (inspectors checking for fruit which is not allowed to cross the border for fear of fruitfly)

So to answer your question Toronto_boise, in reality it is no different to say crossing between Quebec and Ontario within the 13 Schengen countries. It is effectively, a single customs region. So, if you fly into Paris, you have entered the EU Schengen Region, and your next customs check should be when you leave, e.g. Berlin, Barcelona etc - not in between, much like arriving in Vancouver you enter Canada's customs region, and leave it via Toronto.


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## Iain1974 (Jun 16, 2004)

Justme said:


> Seriously, you don't need a passport for the UK or Ireland despite not being in the Schengen pact, if coming from any of the 13 Schengen nations. An ID is enough (but you need at least an ID card) You can check this on the EU website - it's really easy to find.


This is correct. An ID card will suffice when travelling to the UK from Europe. There is no equivalent system of ID in the UK because people are largely against ID cards or pictures on driving licences.


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## -Corey- (Jul 8, 2005)

Toronto_boise said:


> My teacher once said that you could drive between countries in the E.U. without a passport or stopping at the border. Is this true?


YEAH.. my Spanish teacher (from Italy) told me that.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

I remember flying into Stansted from Dublin and I only had to show my boarding pass and not my passport upon entry.


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

hkskyline said:


> I remember flying into Stansted from Dublin and I only had to show my boarding pass and not my passport upon entry.


This happens sometimes and I don't really know why. When I flew to London for Xmas from Frankfurt, I never had to show my passport at either end, same with coming back. This happens about 1 in 5 times when I travel between the two cities.

I havn't seen a pattern yet, so I don't know why sometimes I'm checked and other times not.


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Justme said:


> I havn't seen a pattern yet, so I don't know why sometimes I'm checked and other times not.


Maybe sometimes the staff just doesn't care?


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## ronald (Dec 10, 2005)

virtual said:


> Paris-Amsterdam travels are an exeption, as a lot of french people travel to the Netherlands for weed, and try to bring back some


It's not an exception. When I travelled from Berlin to Amsterdam by train, I was asked to show my ID to Dutch police while crossing the border at Bad Bentheim...


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