They are definitely not required here in the UK.
I am also not aware of any European country which requires the carriage of
paper charts.
If you think about it, it would not make much sense, because there are so many.
UK: CAA VFR, Jepp VFR/GPS
France: SIA, Cartabossy, IGN, Jepp VFR/GPS
Germany: German ICAO, Jepp VFR/GPS
etc
Most of Europe: Jepp VFR/GPS
Most of the world: US ONC/TPC (last updated 1998 but the only option for some places in the south
)
For IFR, you have different enroute charts, and several sources of approach plates.
AOC operations will generally specify exactly what needs to be carried, but here we are talking about private flight.
So going fully electronic
is legal.
Having said that, common sense needs to come into this. If you go fully electronic, where is your backup for
- device failure
- battery exhaustion
- lack of readability in the "wrong kind of sunlight"
I did a presentation the other day on VFR flying to Europe and I recommended that people plan on, and carry with them, the real
printed charts. There is plenty of choice...
I use electronic presentations of the printed charts and normally print out enroute sections as required. The CAA chart lives on the back seat and never moves.
If you go electronic and carry a printed chart as a backup, then why not use the printed chart, and dispense with yet another bl00dy piece of IT gear which packs up when you most need it