COPY LINK

For members

CHRISTMAS

Christmas travel between Germany and the UK: What am I allowed in my suitcase?

This is the first Christmas since Brexit officially came into force, so if you're travelling between Germany and the UK and want to take some festive goodies with you, here's what you should know about the new rules and what you can - and can't - pack.

Published: 15 November 2021 16:35 CET
Updated: 13 December 2021 09:15 CET

Santa comes out for a short break after arriving at the Christmas Post Office in Brandenburg on November 11th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Soeren Stache

If you’re heading home to spend Christmas with family or they’re coming out to stay with you, be aware of the rules regarding food and drink, and what you can and can’t bring in and out of Britain and the EU.

Some rules have changed recently, following Brexit, so read our guide below to make sure you aren’t caught out at customs.

Travelling to the UK from Germany

For those travelling to the UK from Germany, the rules are relatively lax as many border checks are yet to be introduced.

Note, if you’re spending Christmas in Northern Ireland there are different rules on food and animal products. Find them here.

The following products have no restrictions, regardless of where they are produced, so you can safely bring your Lebkuchen and delicious German Brot with you –

bread
cakes (without fresh cream)
biscuits
chocolate and confectionery, but not those made with unprocessed dairy ingredients
pasta and noodles, but not if mixed or filled with meat or meat products
packaged soup, stocks and flavourings
processed and packaged plant products, such as packaged salads and frozen plant material
food supplements containing small amounts of an animal product, such as fish oil capsules

*Delicious Lebkuchen at a Christmas market stall in Nuremberg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Karmann*

Meat, fish and animal products

If you have friends and family putting in their orders on for Bratwurst (well, you never know) know that the rules on bringing meat, dairy, fish and other animal products into the UK are relatively relaxed.

You can bring in meat, fish, dairy and other animal products as long as they’re from the EU.

Alcohol allowance

For those of us who want to surprise our family with Glühwein or lovely German beers, you can – but there are some limits on how much booze you can bring to the UK from Germany (and the EU more generally).

How much you can take depends on the type of alcohol.

Limits:

beer – 42 litres
still wine – 18 litres (or 24 standard size bottles)
spirits and other liquors over 22 percent alcohol – 4 litres (or 6 standard-sized bottles)

sparkling wine, fortified wine (port, sherry etc) and other alcoholic drinks up to 22 percent alcohol (not including beer or still wine) – 9 litres (or 12 standard sized botles)

It’s worth knowing that you can split your allowance, for example you could bring 4.5 litres of fortified wine and 2 litres of spirits.

The allowance is per person, so if you’re travelling in a car with two people over the age of 18, you can bring back double the amounts listed above.

*Two people cheer with Glühwein at a Christmas market. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Schmidt*

Travelling into Germany from the UK

While British borders are not yet checking many things, the rules on food and drink are much tougher when entering the EU from the UK.

The key thing to know is that is you if you arrive in the EU from a non-EU country, you cannot bring any meat or dairy products with you – that means no Wensleydale, no Cornish Brie, and no British bacon to enjoy over Christmas or New Year (sob).

The EU’s strict rules mean that all imports of animal-derived products technically come under these rules, so even boxes of chocolates are now banned (because of the milk).

Similarly, if you’re planning on asking a friend or family member to bring you over some sweets, cakes, or other home comforts, be aware that the ban includes all products that contain any meat or dairy as an ingredient – which includes things like chocolate, fudge, custard and sweets (because of the gelatine.)

Even classics like Christmas pudding and Mince Pies are banned because they contain suet (unless you find a vegan pudding), so if you’re planning on a British-style feast you will need to source your foodstuffs in Germany – there are plenty of British supermarkets if you need the goods although they are pricey due to import costs.

You are allowed to bring a small quantity of fruit and vegetables as well as eggs, some egg products, and honey from the UK into Germany or other EU countries.

Restricted quantities of fish or fish products are also allowed: eviscerated fresh fish products (gutted, with all the organs removed), and processed fishery products are allowed up to 20 kg or 1 fish, so you can enjoy some Scottish smoked salmon in Germany over Christmas if you want.

A good rule of thumb is to look for the vegan labelling on anything that you wish to bring over, although this does not extend to fresh fruit and veg. Be aware also that cut flowers and plants are covered by the ban, so that may affect any gifts you bring.

In good news, tea bags – longed for by Brits the world over – are allowed. Marmite, which is vegan, is also OK but Bovril, which contains beef stock, is not.

Booze

Bringing British wine to Germany is allowed, while limited amounts of British ales and spirits are also OK.

Travellers arriving in the EU from Britain can, according to the European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC), bring the following quantities of alcohol:

4 litres of still wine (6 bottles)
16 litres of beer
1 litre of spirits, or 2 litres of sparkling or fortified wine

If you’re travelling with children, note that powdered infant milk, infant food and specifically required medical foods are allowed up to a maximum 2kg. The same goes for pet foods.

It is worth noting that these strict EU rules also apply to sending products by post, so if you were hoping to get around the newly applicable legislation by having someone send you a delivery of mince pies, they will probably be intercepted and confiscated by the German postal service.

With reporting by Conor Faulkner

Member comments

Anonymous - 16 November 2021 at 08:33 CET

Ah yes, more of “ the sunny uplands” the Leave campaign promised Britain would experience once out of the EU!!

Become a Member to leave a comment.

INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and British in Spain felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of Jane Golding

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 5.5 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!