For those wishing to cross the Channel to foreign shores they will find that BREXIT has changed the rules for entry into the EU. With the UK now having exited the EU it is necessary for UK flagged vessels to undertake certain departure procedures from the UK. These will be posted elsewhere on this website
. In addition there are procedures that MUST be applied when crossing borders into the EU from the UK
I have made contact with the police department in Ostend & received a reply regarding procedures to be applied for Belgium. I wanted to know if the maritime immigration dept would visit the port or if one had to report to an office etc.
At this stage it should NOT be assumed that these will be the same for France & the Netherlands. I will post details once this has been clarified & tested by some visiting yachts. The situation is a little distorted at present due to the current covid restrictions.
However in the meantime here is the reply from the police in Ostend to the request for information lodged in February 2021
“It is the case that you must notify your arrival in advance via the following link:
We will then check the administration based on this report and confirm it by return e-mail
An actual border control by our services in the marina is of course also possible, but not necessary
Naturally, those on board must be in possession of a valid passport.
As long as there are covid measures, these must of course also be followed.
Hopefully this is a sufficient answer to your question.”
The UK Governments link to The belgian rules for procedures in respect of covid can be found at :-
There are tabs to translate into English