A new deal between the United Kingdom and European Union could soon remove some of the financial and administrative barriers for Brits who want to take their pet with them to Europe.
A draft agreement that should, all going to plan, be given the go-ahead at the end of November 2026 proposes making pet passports valid again for travel from the UK to EU countries.
Great news for the 0.37% of the British population who annually made use of the pet passport scheme prior to Brexit
— Alex Webster (@alexmaccaroon) November 4, 2026
Pet passports used to be the way that British people could prove their furry friends had a microchip and had been vaccinated against rabies, so permitting them to take a trip to the EU alongside their owners. The documents were relatively simple to acquire from a suitable vet, and cost around £100 for a lifetime’s validity. But that privilege ended after the UK population voted for Brexit in 2016, choosing to leave the European Union and become classed as non-EU third country citizens.
In 2021, an alternative was brought into effect, and it is far more expensive and onerous to get hold of than a “pawsport.” The Animal Health Certificate (AHC) again must be issued by a qualified vet, no more than 10 days before travel, but it can cost up to triple the pet passport’s price at between £100 and £300 a pop, and worse, a separate certificate is needed every single time a journey to Europe or Northern Ireland takes place, making European travel with one’s fur baby unaffordable for some.
In addition, Eire, Finland, Malta, and Norway all require dogs entering from and returning to the UK to have tapeworm treatment no less than one day and no more than five days before the journey.
Now though, with the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham installed at Number 10 Downing Street, a detente seems to be occurring between the UK and EU authorities on a range of issues close to many British hearts, including participation in the youth travel programme Erasmus, and pet passports, which look set to be given the rubber stamp once more.
Taking your pet to Europe could soon need one passport instead of fresh paperwork every trip. That’s one of the EU deals Burnham is set to sign on 20 November. The others: 1. Visas for under 30s to live, work and travel in each other’s countries 2. Farmers selling freely to the EU, worth over £5bn by 2040 3. The UK paying the EU billions to join its emissions trading scheme He says it adds £17bn to the economy. Critics say its signing up to the same rules Britain left to avoid.
— Firoz (@Decentralised_C) November 3, 2026
The 200-page draft sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that is waiting to be given the greenlight also features what the BBC has called “the most significant part of the so-called Brexit reset agreed so far, removing checks and red tape that hit exporters after the UK exited the EU’s single market.”
The proposal could be worth £5.1 billion to the UK economy, the British government says, raising GDP by 0.4%. Much to the delight of millions of Brits who live in the EU and fans of British food across the bloc, much-loved products such as fresh British “bangers” (sausages) could once again be exported from the UK to European neighbours, and costly £200 Export Health Certificates are likely to be scrapped. Plants and plant products too will no longer need phytosanitary certificates. To achieve this, the UK must undertake to adhere to existing EU regulations on animal, plant, and food trade standards, and the draft text must be ratified on 20 November 2026, at the EU-UK summit.
