Legal provisions of COM(2004)116 - Standards for security features and biometrics in EU citizens' passports

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dossier COM(2004)116 - Standards for security features and biometrics in EU citizens' passports.
document COM(2004)116 EN
date December 30, 2004

Contents

Article 1

1. Passports and travel documents issued by Member States shall comply with the minimum security standards set out in the Annex.

2. Passports and travel documents shall include a storage medium which shall contain a facial image. Member States shall also include fingerprints in interoperable formats. The data shall be secured and the storage medium shall have sufficient capacity and capability to guarantee the integrity, the authenticity and the confidentiality of the data.

3. This Regulation applies to passports and travel documents issued by Member States. It does not apply to identity cards issued by Member States to their nationals or to temporary passports and travel documents having a validity of 12 months or less.

Article 2

Additional technical specifications for passports and travel documents relating to the following shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2):

(a)additional security features and requirements including enhanced anti-forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards;

(b)technical specifications for the storage medium of the biometric features and their security, including prevention of unauthorised access;

(c)requirements for quality and common standards for the facial image and the fingerprints.

Article 3

1. In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2) it may be decided that the specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and not be published. In that case, they shall be made available only to the bodies designated by the Member States as responsible for printing and to persons duly authorised by a Member State or the Commission.

2. Each Member State shall designate one body having responsibility for printing passports and travel documents. It shall communicate the name of that body to the Commission and the other Member States. The same body may be designated by two or more Member States. Each Member State shall be entitled to change its designated body. It shall inform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.

Article 4

1. Without prejudice to data protection rules, persons to whom a passport or travel document is issued shall have the right to verify the personal data contained in the passport or travel document and, where appropriate, to ask for rectification or erasure.

2. No information in machine-readable form shall be included in a passport or travel document unless provided for in this Regulation, or its Annex, or unless it is mentioned in the passport or travel document by the issuing Member State in accordance with its national legislation.

3. For the purpose of this Regulation, the biometric features in passports and travel documents shall only be used for verifying:

(a)the authenticity of the document;

(b)the identity of the holder by means of directly available comparable features when the passport or other travel documents are required to be produced by law.

Article 5

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee set up by Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1683/95.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Member States shall apply this Regulation:

(a)as regards the facial image: at the latest 18 months

(b)as regards fingerprints: at the latest 36 months

following the adoption of the measures referred to in Article 2. However, the validity of passports and travel documents already issued shall not be affected.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.