EU Cash Carry rules
Under current EU law, entry and exit from any EU country into or out of the EU will need to be declared to customs if you are carrying €10,000 or more in cash.
For example, if you are traveling from France (or any other EU country) back to UK, and the amount of cash you are carrying reaches 10,000 euros, then you need to declare it when you leave customs. The law does not prohibit the carrying of large amounts of cash out of the country, but only stipulates that if the amount reaches 10,000 euros or more, you need to declare it.
On the other hand, if you are traveling from UK to France (or any other EU country), you will need to declare any cash you are carrying in the amount of €10,000 or more.
Note: The law refers to 10,000 euros, or the currency equivalent of 10,000 euros.
Cash declarations need to be made on a special official form.
How much cash can I bring between EU countries?
There is no direct EU law on this point. Rather, each country may have its own laws.
For example, Spanish law states that leaving Spain for other EU countries, or coming to Spain from other EU countries, also requires a declaration only if you are carrying up to 10,000 euros. If the limit is not exceeded, no declaration is required.
For example, if you are traveling from Spain to China via the Netherlands, you need to pay attention to the following:
1.If you are traveling from Spain to the Netherlands, you need to declare if you leave the country with 10,000 euros in cash. It is also necessary to check the Dutch law in order to know how much cash you can bring into the Netherlands.
2.Flying from the Netherlands to China, as you are leaving the EU, then cash up to €10,000 will also need to be declared.
3.Conversely, if you are flying from China to the Netherlands and then coming back to Spain, then you need to be aware that entering the Netherlands (EU) with 10,000 in cash will need to be declared. Also note the Dutch law on how much cash you can carry when leaving the Netherlands to Spain. Finally, you also need to check how much cash you can bring into Spain (still carrying more than 10,000 euros to be declared).
To summarize, there are two national laws to be aware of when walking around with cash before an EU country. The first is how much cash you can carry leaving the country of departure, while the second is how much cash you can carry in the country of entry point.
On this point, we know that Spain’s legal standard is the same as the EU standard, which is to declare cash from 10,000 dollars. As for the laws of other countries, you will have to check them separately. In any case, although we can’t be completely sure, we believe that other EU countries also follow the same standard as Spain, i.e. you need to declare only if you are carrying 10,000 euros or more.
It should also be noted that there are no customs or border checks when traveling within the EU. Therefore, moving between countries is no different from traveling within the same country.
