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I thought that it was possible to travel in the EU with a national identity card rather than a passport. However, some friends in Denmark say that is no longer true and they need a full passport even to go to Sweden. Is this so? I have not heard it from other sources.

I had just started to travel in the EU with my Irish passport card and I have had no serious problem yet. I even went to Denmark with it but since I changed planes in Amsterdam, I did not need to show it in Copenhagen.

Crazydre
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badjohn
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  • It depends on whether or not the ID card is a valid document for travel purposes. That is the case in Italy. It might not be the case any more in Denmark. – JoErNanO Sep 23 '18 at 14:39
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    People have a lot of misconceptions about the EU and the Schengen area. Your friends views are not out of the ordinary, albeit wrong. – JonathanReez Sep 23 '18 at 14:44
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    @JoErNanO a "national ID" issued by an EU or EEA state is valid for travel in the EU. This is specified in the freedom of movement directive. Denmark does not issue national ID cards, however. – phoog Sep 23 '18 at 15:39
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    @phoog In Italy one can get a national ID that is not valid for travel purposes. It says "non valida per l'espatrio" on the back. – JoErNanO Sep 23 '18 at 15:41
  • @JonathanReez They have seen a change: they cannot travel to Sweden so easily. However, I now see that they have misinterpreted the change. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:44
  • @JoErNanO well yes, the Netherlands has a similar card. Of course the card has to be valid, and if its validity is restricted to the country of issue then it would not be valid in other countries. But these cards are issued in exceptional circumstances as far as I understand it. – phoog Sep 23 '18 at 23:46
  • Some airlines and travel providers may also add their own requirements on top. So although you legally can travel on a ID Card, the airline may decide their own rules are that you must have a passport. Much like travelling from Ireland to the UK. – Neil P Sep 24 '18 at 11:56
  • @NeilP I have considered this. So far, I have actually carried a full sized passport as a backup. One problem with the card is that I cannot use self-service passport gates. Also, the self-service check-in machine would not accept my card on my latest trip. It said: "insert your passport or ID card" but it could not read the card. The pictures showed only how to insert a full sized passport. I tried loads of orientations with the card but none worked. When I went to a desk they confirmed that the machines would not read cards but they were happy to accept it. – badjohn Sep 24 '18 at 12:10
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    @NeilP there is no such airline in the EU as of 2018. – JonathanReez Sep 25 '18 at 00:03
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    @NeilP "the airline may decide their own rules are that you must have a passport" No they can't; the strictest they can ever require of an EU citizen is a passport or national ID card. – Crazydre Sep 25 '18 at 00:13
  • Having flown Brussels--Geneva (French side) last week on my driving license, I can confirm you don't need passports within Schengen. – user3445853 Sep 25 '18 at 15:08
  • @user3445853 Did you actually have to show ID at any point? I have flown quite a few Schengen to Schengen flights this year and never been asked for ID. I have flown UK to and from Schengen a few times. In these cases, I have always been checked on entry to the destination and occasionally on departure. I have used either my Irish passport card or my full sized UK passport. – badjohn Sep 25 '18 at 16:28
  • @user3445853 When I say never, I meant by immigration staff. Did you mean airline staff? In which case, it is more interesting. I wonder whether I could use my driving licence. This is less useful to me now as my passport card fits in my wallet just as easily. – badjohn Sep 25 '18 at 16:33

2 Answers2

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Denmark has never issued ID cards of the kind that some other EU member states do. This is why a passport is the only option for Danes traveling within the EU.

If Denmark chose to start issuing such ID cards, they would be valid for travel to other EU member states too.

What is new(ish) is that citizens used to be able to travel between the Nordic countries with neither passport nor ID card. This ended several years ago when Sweden introduced (now irregular) ID checks at the border to Denmark.

It has always been the case that Danes were supposed to carry passports when traveling outside the Nordic countries, such as to Germany. After we joined Schengen, passports are not checked systematically when entering Germany, but many people seem not to know that they are still supposed to be able to show them if they're stopped by German police inside Germany.

hmakholm left over Monica
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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – Willeke Sep 24 '18 at 17:42
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    As far as I understand German Law (§ 8 FreizügG/EU, Abs 1, Satz 2), as a citizen of the European union, you only have to have a valid passport (e.g. in your hotel room), but you don't have to carry it with you all the time. But I'm not a lawyer. – magnetometer Sep 25 '18 at 14:39
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Your passport card remains fully valid across the EU/EFTA (and most other European countries for that matter). Your Danish friends say otherwise because Denmark has never even had a national ID card, and so they cannot relate to this.

Crazydre
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  • Thanks. It is a surprise since Denmark has always seemed to be the more organized country with the UK and Ireland more laid back. This seemed to be a surprising turnaround. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:05
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    @badjohn Schengen countries are MUCH more lax than the UK. DUnno about Ireland as I only ever entered once (by bus from London, where the only check happened at Holyhead before driving onto the Ferry) – Crazydre Sep 23 '18 at 15:10
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    Yes, the UK is strict on visitors (especially recently). The laid back nature referred only to citizens. We have never had a national ID card and don't need to carry ID not even when driving. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:12
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    @badjohn They're not strict to EU citizens unless they don't look European in their eyes. Even I who look like a Yugoslav/Bulgarian (I'm not though) once had my nationality questioned at Gatwick (the officer, though she obviously didn't say it out loud, clearly thought my ID was a counterfeit). However, other than that occasion, they only ever ask (at airports) where I flew from and that's it – Crazydre Sep 23 '18 at 15:15
  • I know that. I look European but my wife does not. If I cross from Calais to Dover in my UK car by myself or with other European looking people, I am rarely stopped. If my wife is with me then we are always stopped. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:18
  • @badjohn "We have never had a national ID card": who's "we" in that sentence? The UK did have a national ID card for a while, but it was abolished. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_Cards_Act_2006. – phoog Sep 23 '18 at 15:18
  • @phoog OP's Irish/British – Crazydre Sep 23 '18 at 15:18
  • @phoog Sorry, I am a dual UK / Irish citizen and I tend to flip flop so I have not been consistent with the "we" here. I remember the plans for a national ID card but I had forgotten that it actually existed for a while. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:19
  • @Coke As I just explained. The OP is dual British / Irish and tends to be inconsistent with his loyalties. When I rented a car in Spain recently, I showed my UK driving licence but my Irish passport card. The clerk did not bat an eyelid. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 15:21
  • @badjohn Depends on the document. The UK is very unhappy about accepting certain ID documents and only reluctantly upholds its EU obligations (the old Italian ID card could almost be faked with a photocopier and a steady hand), but isn't necessarily biased against all ID cards. – Calchas Sep 23 '18 at 22:26
  • @Calchas Yes. I have not yet tried to enter the UK with my Irish passport card. Part of the reason, which applies elsewhere, is that I cannot use the self-service machines. – badjohn Sep 23 '18 at 22:34
  • @badjohn I assume you still need to carry your driver's license with you while driving? Within your own country, that's a perfectly legal method of identification, similar to a national ID. Outside one's own country (but within Schengen) I wouldn't know. – Mast Sep 24 '18 at 06:23
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    @Mast No, within the UK or Ireland, there is no need to carry ID. You don't even need to carry your licence when driving. I do but many don't. https://www.gov.uk/stopped-by-police-while-driving-your-rights. Outside the UK or Ireland, I used to carry at least my driving licence but now I usually carry my Irish passport card. – badjohn Sep 24 '18 at 07:10
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    @phoog the 2006 ID card never got past the pilot stage and they were only ever issued to a small part of the population. The UK did have mandatory ID cards during the wars, though, which were abolished in 1948. – pjc50 Sep 24 '18 at 13:32