PURPOSE: to establish a new European Union
emergency travel document (EU ETD) with security features that
reflect current practices.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Directive.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council
adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without
being obliged to follow its opinion.
BACKGROUND: EU citizens are entitled to seek
help from the embassy or consulate of any EU Member State if they
need assistance outside the EU, and there is no embassy or
consulate from their own Member State to help them (that is, if
they are unrepresented).
Member States must assist unrepresented EU
citizens on the same conditions as they assist their own nationals.
This right, enshrined in Articles 20(2)(c) and 23 of the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and in Article 46 of
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, is an
expression of EU solidarity and one of the practical benefits of
being an EU citizen.
Council
Directive (EU) 2015/637 gives effect to that right by laying
down the cooperation and coordination measures necessary to
facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the
Union.
One form of assistance provided to
unrepresented citizens is the issuance of emergency travel
documents (ETDs). ETDs are documents issued to citizens when
their passports or travel documents have been lost, stolen or
destroyed or are temporarily unavailable. In 1996, Decision
96/409/CFSP introduced a common format emergency travel
document (the EU ETD), to be issued by Member States to
unrepresented EU citizens in third countries (that is, countries
outside the EU).
Lost or stolen passports make up more than 60%
of the cases of consular assistance. However, the current emergency
travel documents do not meet modern security standards and
offer little protection against fraud and counterfeit. As a result,
some third countries are reluctant to accept them and some Member
States have stopped using them for their own citizens.
There is now a need to update the rules of
Decision 96/409/CFSP and the format of the EU ETD. Recent changes
to EU rules on consular protection are not reflected in Decision
96/409/CFSP, and the EU ETD in its current form is not adapted
to the current global security environment.
The European Parliament, in its resolution
on the 2017 Citizenship Report, called on the Commission to make a
proposal for a new, more secure format for the EU ETD. The
Commission Work Programme 201813 includes the review of the
proposal for a Council directive to replace the Decision on the
establishment of an emergency travel document (REFIT).
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the impact assessment
considered a number of possible policy options. The preferred
option being to introduce new legislation establishing an EU ETD
with enhanced security features. Member States and the EU would
benefit from the increased security features of the new EU ETD.
Increased use of the new document has the potential to increase its
acceptance by third countries, and the adoption of up-to-date
standards for machine-readability should result in easier
border processing at the borders. A more secure EU ETD format,
multilingual and produced at EU-level, can also be a cost-efficient
alternative for Member States considering replacing any outdated
national ETDs.
CONTENT: this proposed Directive lays down
rules on the conditions and procedure for unrepresented citizens in
third countries to obtain an EU Emergency Travel Document (EU ETD)
and establishes a uniform format for such documents.
It aims to establish the measures necessary to
facilitate consular protection for the most frequent type of
consular assistance provided to unrepresented citizens, namely the
issuance of emergency travel documents. This objective is to be
achieved by establishing a standardised procedure of cooperation
between the Member States for the issuance of emergency travel
documents in a uniform format based on improved security features.
This shall allow citizens to exercise their right to consular
protection effectively and in a more secure environment.
The main points of the proposal are as
follows:
Format: the proposal lays down the
uniform format to be used for EU ETDs, consisting of a uniform
form and sticker and shall contain all the necessary information and meet
high technical standards, in particular as regards safeguards
against counterfeiting and falsification. The relevant data on the
recipient of an EU ETD is printed on the sticker, which is then
affixed to the form.
Issuing procedure: where a Member State receives an
application for an EU ETD, it shall, within 24 hours, consult the
Member State of nationality for the purpose of verifying the
nationality of the applicant. The assisting Member State shall
provide the Member State of nationality with all relevant
information, including: (i) the data on the applicant to be
included on the EU ETD sticker; (ii) a facial image of the
applicant, to be taken, save in exceptional circumstances, by the
authorities of the assisting Member State on the day of the
application.
Within 36 hours after receipt of the
information, the Member State of nationality shall confirm whether
the applicant is its national. In crisis situations, the assisting
Member State may issue an EU ETD without prior consultation of the
Member State of nationality.
Validity: an EU ETD shall be valid for the
period required for completion of the journey for which it is
issued. In calculating that period, allowance shall be made for
necessary overnight stops and for making travel connections. The
period of validity shall include an additional period of
grace of two days. Save in exceptional circumstances, the
validity of an EU ETD shall not exceed 15 calendar days.
Monitoring: Member States shall be obliged
to monitor the application of the Directive and to supply
information to the Commission on a yearly basis.
Evaluation: no sooner than five years after
the date of transposition of this Directive, the Commission shall
carry out an evaluation of this Directive and present a report on
the main findings, including on the appropriateness of the level of
security of personal data.