Commission refers Bulgaria to the Court for failing to implement rules on e-passports and e-residence permits

On the 17 November 2016, the European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the EU for non-implementation of the obligation to create a Single Point of Contact to ensure the mandatory exchange of information under the EU document security legislation.

The establishment of such contact points is mandatory and should allow for the exchange of information necessary to access the fingerprint images stored on e-passports and e-residence permits for third country nationals.

Bulgaria has not implemented this important part of the EU document security legislation and thereby prevents other Member States from securely accessing and verifying the fingerprints stored on the chips in Bulgarian passports.