Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members

Summary:

Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 aimed at improving the security of ID cards and residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement.

Further information:

This Regulation aims at strengthening the security in three domains:

• Identification cards of EU citizens;
• Registration certificates issued to EU citizens residing for more than three months in a host Member State;
• Residence cards issued to family members of EU citizens who are not nationals of a Member State.

The new rules aim to improve the security of these documents by introducing minimum standards both for the information contained in them and for security features common to all Member States that issue them.

The initiative was the follow-up to an Action Plan on strengthening the European response to travel document fraud, in which the European Commission identified actions to address the issue of document security, including identity cards and residence documents, in the framework of the terrorist threat.

The proposal was adopted by the Commission on 17 April 2018 as part of a legislative package accompanying the fourteenth progress report on the Security Union. An informal agreement between the co-legislators was reached on 19 February 2019. The European Parliament formally endorsed it on 4 April, followed by the Council on 6 June.

Official

EUR-Lex: COM(2018)212: Proposal for a Regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2018:212:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2018)110: Impact assessment https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2018:110:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2018)111: Executive summary of the impact assessment https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2018:111:FIN

European Parliament: Legislative Observatory: Procedure File for Proposal on security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2018/0104(COD)&l=en

European Parliament: Legislative Train: Legislative Initiative to improve the security of ID cards and residence documents of EU citizens and of their non-EU family members http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-area-of-justice-and-fundamental-rights/file-security-of-id-cards-and-residence-documents-of-eu-citizens

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 19/02/2019: Better security for ID documents: Council Presidency and European Parliament reach provisional agreement https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/02/19/better-security-for-id-documents-council-presidency-and-european-parliament-reach-provisional-agreement/

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 06/06/2019: Better security for ID documents: Council adopts new rules https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/06/06/better-security-for-id-documents-council-adopts-new-rules/

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Commentary and Analysis

EPRS: Briefing, July 2018: Security of ID cards and of residence documents issued to EU citizens and their families [Initial Appraisal of a European Commission Impact Assessment] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2018)621846

EPRS: At a Glance, April 2019: Improving security for EU citizens' ID cards http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_ATA(2019)637889

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