Sex Work Laws in Europe: A 2026 Country-by-Country Overview
Europe has no single approach to sex work. Within a short flight you can move from a country where it is a regulated profession with employment contracts to one where paying for sex is a crime. For companions who tour and for clients who travel, understanding these differences is essential. This overview reflects the position as of summer 2026. Laws change, so always check the current rules before you travel. This is general information, not legal advice.
The four main models
- Legalisation and regulation: sex work is legal but subject to registration, licensing or zoning rules.
- Decriminalisation: sex work between adults is removed from criminal law and treated like other work.
- The Nordic or "Equality" model: selling sex is not a crime, but buying it is.
- Abolitionism without client criminalisation: selling and buying are not crimes, but brothels, pimping and often street soliciting are illegal.
Regulated and legal
Germany
Sex work has been legal since the Prostitution Act of 2002. The Prostitute Protection Act (ProstSchG), in force since July 2017, requires sex workers to register and attend health counselling, requires licences for prostitution businesses and makes condom use compulsory. An official evaluation published in 2025 found the law had partly achieved its aims but identified low registration rates. Several politicians in the governing CDU/CSU have called for a Nordic-model ban on buying sex, and an expert commission has been set up, but at the time of writing no ban has been adopted.
Netherlands
The general ban on brothels was lifted on 1 October 2000. Licensing is handled by municipalities, which means rules differ between cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.
Switzerland
Sex work is legal and is regulated at cantonal and city level, with permits, zoning and registration rules that vary across the country. Zurich, for example, has its own ordinance and designated zones for street work.
Austria, Greece and Turkey
Sex work is legal under regulated conditions, such as registration, licensed premises and health checks. Working outside the licensed system can be an offence.
Decriminalised
Belgium
Belgium decriminalised sex work between adults in its 2022 reform of sexual criminal law, and in December 2024 a world-first law allowing employment contracts for sex workers came into force, giving access to social security, sick leave and maternity leave. Exploitation remains a serious crime.
Nordic model: buying is illegal
- Sweden: buying sex has been a crime since 1 January 1999.
- Norway and Iceland: since 2009.
- Northern Ireland: since 2015.
- France: since the law of 13 April 2016, which also abolished the offence of soliciting.
- Ireland: since 2017.
In these countries, clients face fines and in some cases prison. Selling is not an offence, but third-party involvement, including sharing premises, can be.
Selling and buying legal, organisation illegal
United Kingdom (England, Wales and Scotland)
Private exchanges between adults are not a crime, but street soliciting, kerb-crawling, brothel-keeping and controlling prostitution are offences. In England and Wales, paying for the services of a person subjected to coercion is a strict liability offence. Attempts in 2025 and 2026 to introduce the Nordic model in England and Wales and in Scotland did not succeed.
Spain
Sex work occupies a legal grey area: selling is not a crime, but profiting from someone else's prostitution is, and many cities fine soliciting in public spaces. The government has repeatedly announced an abolitionist law that would penalise clients, but as of mid-2026 it has not been approved. See our dedicated article on Spain.
Portugal
Selling sex is not a crime, but lenocínio, profiting from or facilitating another person's prostitution, is punishable under Article 169 of the Penal Code.
Italy
Selling is legal, but the 1958 Merlin Law closed state brothels and criminalises exploitation and facilitation. Many municipalities fine street work.
Poland
Selling is legal, while profiting from or facilitating another person's prostitution is a crime.
Romania
Since the 2014 Criminal Code, selling sex is no longer a crime but a minor offence punished with a fine; pimping remains a crime.
What applies everywhere
- Any involvement of a person under 18 is a serious crime in every European country.
- Trafficking, coercion and exploitation are crimes everywhere, with severe penalties.
- In many countries, buying sex from a trafficked person is an offence even under otherwise permissive laws.
The EU dimension
Sex work law is a national competence in the EU, but the topic is debated at European level. In September 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on regulating prostitution that called for measures inspired by the Nordic model. It is not binding, and member states continue to take very different approaches.
Practical advice for travellers
- Check the national and city rules before every trip.
- Remember that the law can treat clients and companions very differently.
- Arrange meetings in private, never in public spaces.
- Walk away from any situation that suggests exploitation and report it.
