Croats to enter the EU without passports

EU member states have agreed to allow Croatian citizens to enter Italy, Slovenia and Hungary without passports but with identity cards and an accompanying government certificate.

With the borders between Slovenia and Hungary and the passport-free Schengen countries due to be lifted by the end of the year, the move will mean that Croats will be able to enter other EU states by land in the border-free zone without passports.

The issue came to light when EU teams assessing the nine new member states set to have their borders lifted discovered that Croatian citizens were passing into Slovenia and Hungary with just identity cards. When the matter was raised at EU level it emerged that Italy had also been allowing Croats to pass through Slovenia and into Italy with identity cards.

As an identity card cannot be stamped, it is not possible to record when a Croatian citizen enters the EU and when he or she leaves. Croatian identity cards can be applied for at local police stations but are issued centrally from the ministry of interior.

EU member states agreed that Croats without passports would also need to obtain a certificate from their government for single entry into the EU which can be stamped.

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, welcomed the agreement on Tuesday (18 September), saying that the "legal services have given us a green light".

A Portuguese presidency spokesman said: "The idea is not to raise new barriers."

Some member states had expressed concern about a precedent being set by allowing non EU-member states’ citizens to enter the territory of the Union without passports. "If it is legal who is next? Turkey?" asked one diplomat.

But the Council of Ministers’ legal services said that a precedent had already been set with a similar arrangement between Norway and Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

The arrangement will only apply to Croats entering Italy, Slovenia and Hungary and therefore will not apply to Croatian citizens flying to other parts of the EU, where passports will be required.

Meanwhile, negotiations are under way with Liechtenstein to allow free movement between the small state and the surrounding Schengen countries. Frattini said that the Commission was negotiating an agreement to make financial movements in and out of the country more transparent which would pave the way for allowing free movement between Liechtenstein and the EU.

"We want Liechtenstein to be helpful. In October we have a meeting planned and we hope to reach conclusions," he said.

EU member states have agreed to allow Croatian citizens to enter Italy, Slovenia and Hungary without passports but with identity cards and an accompanying government certificate.