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Updated : 08/2010

EU nationals

If you are an EU national , you do not need to show your national ID card or passport when you are travelling from one EU country to another.

The passport-free Schengen area includes:
Austria	Hungary	Norway
Belgium	Iceland	Poland
Czech Republic	Italy	Portugal
Denmark	Latvia	Slovakia
Estonia	Liechtenstein	Slovenia
Finland	Lithuania	Spain
France	Luxembourg	Sweden
Germany	Malta	Switzerland
Greece	Netherlands

You must still show a valid ID card or passport when travelling to or from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Though part of the EU, these countries do not belong to the passport-free Schengen area.

It is always best to take a passport or ID card with you when travelling around the passport-free Schengen area. Even though you do not need to show it at the border, there may be other occasions when you need to prove your identity - when stopped by a police officer or boarding a plane, for instance.

Please note that the only valid ID is the one delivered by national authorities. Driving licences, post, bank or tax cards are not accepted as valid travel documents or proof of identity.

Sample story

Lars is Swedish and is going on holidays to Spain. He took with him his bank ID card –accepted in Sweden as a proof of identity. However, Lars could get into trouble in case of a control of his identity by Spanish authorities since only the official ID cards or passports delivered in Sweden by the police are recognised as valid travel documents.

Check valid ID cards and passports by country

Entry refusal

In very exceptional cases, an EU country can refuse entry to you or your family members for public policy, public security or public health reasons.

If you are refused entry, the authorities must prove that you or your family members pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat. The decision must be given to you or to them in writing. It must state all the grounds, and specify how to appeal and by when.

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Footnote

or a national of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway