If you are traveling to Europe and are not a Citizen of a European country, you will need to obtain a visa known as a Schengen Visa.
In order to obtain this visa you are required to hold travel insurance with an emergency medical minimum of approximately $50,000.
Travel Insurance and The Schengen agreement
On 25 March 2001 an agreement was made between a group of 15 countries to allow movement within those countries as long as a Schengen visa is obtained:
The Schengen visa requires travel insurance to be obtained.
The Schengen Countries are:
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The agreement abolishes border controls between those countries, as long as the necessary controls have been completed upon first entering one of the Schengen countries.
For you, this means that you will need only one visa for any or all of those fifteen countries. Whether you are visiting for business or pleasure, if you are not staying longer than 90 days, the Schengen visa is your best choice.
Compulsory medical care insurance
From the Directive of the European Council :
(…) “applicants must show that they are in possession of adequate and valid individual or group travel insurance to cover any expenses which might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and/or emergency hospital treatment.
The insurance must be valid throughout the territory of the Member States applying in full the provisions of the Schengen acquis and cover the entire period of the person’s stay.” (…)
