ECJ: Cash must also be declared in transit areas at EU airports - a new ruling confirms the existing obligation to declare cash
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The practice adopted by German customs has now been confirmed in a ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ): The obligation to declare cash in an amount of 10,000 euros or more to the customs also applies to persons from a non-EU state who merely change planes at an airport within the EU and travel on to a destination in a non-EU state.
In its ruling of 4 May 2017 the ECJ dealt with the question of whether the prescribed duty to declare also exists if a traveller is on the way from a non-EU state to another non-EU state and only passes through the international area of an EU airport in transit. Any person who enters the EU from a non-EU state or leaves the EU to travel to a non-EU state carrying cash in a total amount of 10,000 or more euros must declare this amount to the customs. The ECJ has now made it clear in its ruling that the airports of the Member States are part of the sovereign territory of the EU and that transit also involves entering and leaving this territory.
For Uwe Schröder, President of the Central Customs Authority, the ECJ ruling confirms German customs' application of the law: "This ruling creates legal certainty and facilitates the everyday work of customs officers at airports in Germany", Schröder stated.
The duty to declare cash is intended to prevent money from criminal acts from being taken across international borders for purposes of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This goal can only be achieved if movements of cash can be monitored in all relevant areas.
For the duty to declare cash, this means: Travellers in the international area of an airport in the European Union must also declare cash they are carrying in the amount of 10,000 euros or more to customs, even if they are only in transit. In this case, only one joint declaration for entry and exit is required.
You can find further information on the duty to declare cash at zoll.de > Fachthemen > Außenwirtschaft und Bargeldverkehr
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