My friend & I are planning a trip around Europe (UK-Netherlands-France-Italy-Greece). The boat we plan on taking comes with a medium sized green room growing basic veges & fruits- for personal consumption.
I’m unsure of the laws regarding these things- do we need some kind of a permit for our trip?
How exactly do they check?
Within the European Union – and all of the countries you listed are member states – there are no barriers for plants that I am aware of. In the case of Schengen member countries (not UK, but Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, don’t know about Greece) there are no border controls by default. However every country can perform random border checks. Switzerland, which you also want to visit, does have some lax border controls; usually they are content with seeing a passport and they wave you through. Don’t know what they will do when presented with a non-EU ID. Same goes for UK borders.
Generally the EU is all about the free flow of commerce across its internal borders so I don’t think they’ll get excited about a bunch of plants. Animals are a different thing.
Mind this: Especially when leaving the Netherlands – where some Cannabis is legal – the next country will have an eye out for drug smugglers. So you with a roomfull of live plants may arouse suspicion. That is not dangerous – customs officers / policemen in Europe are generally not quick to shoot – but they might hold you up for a time while they thoroughly check for Cannabis on the boat, for example with a sniffer dog.
You are not taking these things into the country if you are growing them and using them for personal consumption on the boat.
The coast guards can stop you and search your boat but they will be looking for things like drugs, not a pot of parsley and a tub of lettuce.