On the proposal for a Council regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union… citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement

Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement started to apply on 2 August 2021. It established common minimum standards for the security features and the format of documents included in its scope and was part of the Action Plan of December 2016 to strengthen the European response to travel document fraud as an enabler of terrorism and organised crime (COM(2016)790).

The European Parliament in its 2018 position emphasised the importance of improved security standards of such documents not only in the fight against document fraud and identity theft, but also to facilitate the exercise of the right to free movement within the EU. Special importance was given to the introduction of the highest possible standards on data protection and data security, especially with regard to biometric data, as well as the protection of minors. The Parliament also insisted on the inclusion of an EU flag on all identity cards and residency documents as a visible symbol of the ‘EU citizenship’ in addition to the citizens’ national identity, providing them with further protection and rights.

In its judgment of 21 March 2024 (case C-61/22, Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden), the European Court of Justice declared Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 invalid due to the choice of an incorrect legal basis. According to the Court, Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 should have been adopted on the basis of Article 77(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which provides for a special legislative procedure, instead of Article 21(2) TFEU. The Court also decided that the effects of Regulation 2019/1157 should be maintained until the entry into force of a valid regulation replacing it and identified a period of two years from 1 January of the year following the date of delivery of its judgment as a reasonable time for the adoption of the new regulation.

Other possible grounds for the invalidity of Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 submitted to the Court, i.e. its alleged failure to comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and with the General Data Protection Regulation, were dismissed.

On 23 July 2024, the European Commission put forward a draft Council Regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence

documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of

free movement, which, as prescribed by the Court of Justice, was based on Article 77(3) TFEU. The new proposal largely reproduces the text of Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 as adopted by the Parliament and the Council. As noted in the Commission’s explanatory memorandum to the proposal, a limited number of changes to the 2019 text have been suggested in order to incorporate the necessary procedural adjustments and take stock of developments occurred since the time of the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2019/1157.

The rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s proposal in that it essentially reflects the text approved by the Parliament in 2019, whose approach and objectives continue to be valid in the current context, and shares the assessment that only limited changes should be introduced in the Council Regulation under consideration as compared to Regulation (EU) 2019/1157.