Is the UK seeking easier EU travel for pets?

The UK is reported to want to make life easier for Britons travelling to the EU with their pets by requesting to rejoin the European pet passport scheme. We look at what is known so far. 

Several UK media have reported rejoining the European pet passport scheme to be among the UK's aims for an EU-UK summit in London next week that aims to help reset relations between the two with a wide-reaching set of new agreements.

It is suggested that in return for being granted easier movement of animals and certain foodstuffs/plant products the UK may need to make other concessions, such as granting long-term fishing licences to EU vessels to work in British waters.

The Telegraph was the original source, stating that it had learned that UK officials are pushing for British pets to "regain EU freedom of movement in negotiations over a new Swiss-style veterinary deal to boost trade".

Return of pet passports?

Since Brexit, pets of most Britons living in the UK have been ineligible for a European pet passport, a document which makes travelling with an animal in the EU significantly easier.

People living in the EU can obtain such a document – which is valid for travel in the UK – but all others are excluded from the scheme. Some people with French second-homes have obtained them though officially they are only issued for pets staying long-term in France.

The Connexion has previously been told that French versions of the European pet passport cost only around €20 and can be used for 28 trips. Animals do, however, need to be kept up to date with rabies jabs. 

Currently, travellers from the UK must instead provide an ‘Animal Health Certificate’ showing their pet has undergone certain treatments and vaccinations, which can cost up to £200.

This must be obtained for each trip to the EU.

Europopean pet passports are valid in the UK, meaning those travelling into the UK with EU-based animals do not need to undergo the same obligations.

Could the UK return to the scheme?

It has been reported that if the UK adopts a ‘Swiss-style’ veterinary deal this would pave the way for cats, dogs, and ferrets coming from the UK to be eligible for European pet passports. 

This, it is said, would allow pets to travel freely between the UK and EU without the need for an Animal Health Certificate for each journey. 

In fact, Switzerland does not belong the the European pet passport scheme, but it is permitted to issue its own national pet passports which are recognised by the EU.

The only non-EU countries/territories fully in the European pet passport scheme are Norway (which is not an EU country but is in the wider European Economic Area) and Northern Ireland, which was given an exemption in the Northern Ireland Protocal section of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement due to its proximity to Ireland (EU). 

During talks on the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the EU, the UK as a whole asked for a similar arrangement to Switzerland. However, the EU stated this was only possible if it agreed to recognise EU animal health rules, which it did not. 

Technically, this came down to whether the UK was listed by the EU under 'part one' or 'part two' of Annex II of a regulation from 2013. 

The only 'Annex II' countries at present are Liechtenstein and Iceland (both EEA), Switzerland, which is part of the EU's single market due to a complex network of treaties, European microstates such as Monaco and the Vatican, and Greeland and the Faroe Islands, which are both part of the Kingdom of Denmark (an EU state). 

The UK originally asked to be put in Annex I, arguing that it had high animal health standards, but the EU refused.

At the time, a European Commission source told The Connnexion that Annex I was "like a Schengen area for pets' and was only given to countries that agree to actively keep their rules in line with the EU's with regard to animal health, which the UK did not. 

Is the UK asking for this as part of the new talks?

Referring to the possibility of a future "Swiss-style veterninary deal", The Telegraph reported a government source as saying "that kind of agreement can bring all  kinds of benefits". However, we have seen no official clarification that the UK will be asking specifically about pet passport rights.  

It is, however, thought likely that to UK will, among other points, ask for simplifications of rules on plant and animal health regulations and certifications, which have been adding to post-Brexit border delays and causing extra costs and paperwork for UK importers, thus putting up some food prices.

If such an agreement was to go far enough to resemble a 'Swiss-style' deal, it would follow that the UK could likely in future issue pet passports recognised by the EU.

Several readers have run into issues attempting to transport plants to their French home from the UK since Brexit due to the end of agreements on this. 

Note however that a temporary ban by the UK on importing meat and dairy products from the EU is separate to this, and may remain in place despite the deal as it is related to prevention of a foot and mouth disease outbreak.