Why do people need passports to travel to and from EU countries?

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deni

because no-one knows anything about anything, and cant get anything right...you'd think it would be easy but nope.....tho i guess the real reason is anyone could pinch your birth certificate and say they were you....i guess in the long run its for the safety of everyone against terrorists or some such

The "L" Word

EU nationals with the exception of the U.K., Ireland and newest members Romania and Bulgaria only require national identification cards to cross borders. Since the U.K. and Ireland opted out of the Schengen agreement, they still require passports from all EU members. There are some non-EU states such as Iceland, Norway, Monaco, and the Vatican City that can cross with only a national identification card due to their implementation of the Schengen agreement. Romania and Bulgaria will have this privilege once they get their economies on par with all other EU nations.

CLIVE H

It's all to do with 'money'. Governments around the EU and the world for that matter, make massive profits from the sale of passports. Especially here in UK.

Citizens of France do not need a passport to come to UK because they all carry national ID cards.

Citizens of UK must have passports in order to enter France because they [as yet] do not have national ID cards.

I'd like to know exactly where my money is going when I pay for something from UK.gov - not much chance of finding out really. Even with so called [there's a laff] Freedom of Information Act.

The plain answer to your question is 'money'.

Also the various EU.govs want people to think they're offering security. They are not. What they're doing is stealing the people's money.

There is no such thing as security. I heard of one gangster, now in jail, who managed to defraud the UK.gov of millions by posing as a student from abroad and getting student loans in seven different names, in the same Uni by the way. He managed this by obtaining several different birth certs.

If a birth cert gets you lots of stolen wonga, what else?

In addition to all of the above, there was the story in the press recently of the 20,000 or so incorrectly issued UK.gov passports which went to people not entitled to them. It's just all about money. UK.gov do not care about security so long as the money rolls in.

Edit: even when we do get official UK.gov ID cards, they will not be valid for travel inside the EU. The UK.gov have made this quite clear. You will have to pay Â£60 - Â£90 for the UK.gov ID card, but it will not be valid for travel to EU. Whereas, EU citizens on the continent can use and do use their national ID cards to travel around the EU.

UK.gov are, in plain English, thieves. No better than the gangsters who steal IDs.

Essex Ron

They don't - only UK citizens need them.

The reason is, every other country in the EU has identity cards - we have some Danish friends and they were absolutely amazed that in the UK we don't.

People have been quite happily travelling between EU countries with nothing but ID cards for donkey's years. They are a simple and easy proof of - guess what - identity, and dispense with the need to carry a bulky passport.

For reasons that are totally beyond me, there is a feeling in the UK that ID cards are in some way an infringement of our liberty. As those who travel between the UK and other EU countries find out, the opposite is in fact the case. Our liberty to travel is infringed because we DON'T have an ID card.

Penfold

The UK and Ireland did not sign up to the Schengen Agreement which allows member states to become borderless i.e. its citizens can travel within the Schengen area without the need to undergo immigration checks (although they are obliged to carry ID in case they are stopped for customs or security checks). As such, we need a passport when travelling because there is still an immigration border between the UK and Ireland and the rest of the EU.

SAM GIB

Article18 of the EU says that you only need ID cards, to travel between countires, in Gibraltar we have these (still not available in the UK) but with this little card we are able to travel all over the EU without a passport, it is great a small credit card sized card that will fit into your wallet/purse with all you personal details on.

fantasia.

Because we have to prove that we belong to a country of the European Union. we could be from anywhere and its to prevent illegal immigrants from entering into European countries without the proper documents. How would they be able to tell whether you were a genuine traveller or an illegal immigrant if you did not carry your passport with you?

neal9jsg

Well there's this thing where a bunch of idiots take a dislike to others' ideology and start to impose themselves and their opinions on those others through violence. Some call it terrorism, some call it war. It's basically the same thing and one always leads to the other.

Do I need to carry on?

Because it is a picture I.D.

Puppy

Have you ever heard about Identity Card? I have got one and i use it and i dont need a passport at all!I got one from ages....is time that UK up to date in this matter

SnoddersB

Because they don't like us. The ID cards that Blair is trying to foist on us is the trial for the EU. As has been stated the rest have ID cards, but not to the level that we are to have, also they can travel easily to other countries while we have to take a ferry, train or plane so are not really part of Europe and never have been. The Romans asset stripped the country and the Brussels junta is trying to do the same. I wonder what size of backhander Blair is getting from them to push their policies on us?

peperoni

who's legislation ? the little people in your head ?

People needs a passport to prove they are who they say they are and where they are from.

In doubt google 'passport' and 'little people in my head'

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