Papers

Papers and administration is a complex world where one usually gets lost. Moreover, when traveling around countries it gets especially difficult to know what papers you need to take with you. Do I need a visa to live six months in Greece if I come from Finland? And if I come from Poland? What about if I'm legal resident in Spain but I come from Guinea? Is it different if I'm only staying there for a few days? Does my country have an agreement for health problems with it?

The aim of this section is to clarify all these matters so that you don't find yourself on the way back home before planned (Yes, Frankfurt has a nice airport...) and so that you save yourself problems in hospitals or police stations -not that we want to see you there.

So, just take this aspirin against bureaucracy headache and concentrate in enjoying your trip!

Travel Rights for EU Citizens

Citizens of the Member States of the European Union have the right to enter and live temporarily in another Member State for the purposes of tourism, visiting friends or relatives, work or training.

If you travel outside the EU, it is useful to know that you can get consular protection from the authorities of a Member State other than yours if your country does not have a consulate or embassy in the country that you are visiting.

Besides, there are also certain laws and benefits regarding the movement of personal effects.

Free movement

"The right of every European citizen to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States."

The free movement within the EU

• is one of the basic aims of the Union,
• is a Fundamental Right for EU citizens since December 2000,
• 'may' be granted to third-country nationals.
• abolishes the border controls at internal borders,
• ensures that free movement is applied in a coherent and simplified way throughout the EU Member States,
• reinforces the checks and controls at the EU's external frontiers to guarantee the Union's internal peace and security.

This means that EU citizens may cross the internal borders of the Union simply on presentation of a valid passport or identity card. In principle no question may be put to them as to the purpose of the journey, the mean of subsistence, etc. However, this right may be restricted only for reasons of public order, public security or public health.

Besides, public order or national security are allowed to require it for checks at the internal borders or throughout the territory in order to guarantee the security of their citizens. If this happens and you don't have any identification with you, the competent authorities can turn you back at the frontier or take action to expel you from the country. For this reason, it is good to carry always a passport or ID with you.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Schengen Convention

"The first agreement to remove all internal border controls, put in place effective controls at the external borders and introduce a common visa policy."

• It is incorporated into the EU's Treaties since March 2001.
• Countries that have signed up are:
  • 13 EU Member States: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Denmark (with some special conditions).
  • 2 non-EU Member States: Norway and Iceland.
  • Switzerland started the negotiations in July 2002.
• Ireland and the United Kingdom WILL:
  • cooperate with police forces and judicial matters,
  • not end border controls.

For more information, check the related documents^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Personal Effects

When traveling within the European Union you are allowed to take your personal effects with you without restriction.

For reasons of public interest, Member States may prohibit or restrict certain goods such as drugs, products from endangered species or certain types of pornography. Medicines can be taken but they must not exceed the quantities corresponding to your personal needs. Firearms can also be taken under very strict rules. More information about personal effects here^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Money

The euro is the legal tender for 17 states. The symbol for the euro is €. You may take with you all the money you need for your travel. Although restrictions on capital movements have been abolished within the European Union, certain Member States may, for administrative and statistical reasons, require you to declare how much money you are bringing into or taking out of their territory.

The Member States concerned have set thresholds above which transfers must be declared. In addition, the national authorities have the right to carry out checks if they suspect that transfers of funds are connected with criminal activities.

Thanks to new EU rules, the cost of using money abroad is coming down. Withdrawing euro from a cash machine or making card payments in euro (up to euro 12 500) now costs the same wherever you are in the EU, the same applies to euro transfers (up to euro 12 500) between bank accounts.

More information about money on travels here^{[a link is missing {{{1}}}]}.

Pets

You can take your dog or cat with you to any EU country, as long as it has identification through an electronic microchip or tattoo and a valid rabies vaccination.

If you want to take your pet to Ireland, Sweden or the United Kingdom, you may also need to have your pet tested after vaccination to check that it has been effective. The same rule applies to animals from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland and any third country free of rabies or where the disease is under control. Stricter rules apply to countries where rabies is endemic.

Identification

still to add