[iofj]

The EU does passport checks on many internal travel services. It's not that there truly are no ways to travel without showing passports, but there's very few. Well on the continent you can just take a car, although with the refugee crisis there's many checks.

E.g. taking the train from London's King's Cross to Paris you will be subject to a full security screening and passport inspection. Faster than getting on a plane. Same for taking internal flights (even within a country. Paris to Marseille ... you need a passport) and I'm sure that's not the last list.

I contend that despite this there are many differences between the EU and the USSR, even with both being led by "commissars" (or is it commissioners ?)

[ropiku]

On UK to France you are checked because you are crossing the Schengen border.