Directive 2019/997 - EU Emergency Travel Document - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 163/1

Citizenship of the Union is the fundamental status of nationals of the Member States. It confers on every citizen of the Union the right to enjoy, in the territory of a third country in which the Member State of which they are nationals is not represented, the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of another Member State under the same conditions as the nationals of that Member State. Council Directive (EU) 2015/637 (2) gives effect to that right by laying down the cooperation and coordination measures necessary to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens of the Union.

Directive (EU) 2015/637 refers to emergency travel documents as one type of consular assistance to be provided by embassies and consulates of Member States to unrepresented citizens of the Union. An emergency travel document is a single-journey document, allowing the bearer to return home, or, exceptionally, to another destination, in the event that they do not have access to their regular travel documents, for example because they were stolen or lost. Another destination could be, for example, a neighbouring or similarly close country where the unrepresented citizen's Member State of nationality has an embassy or consulate.

Decision 96/409/CFSP of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council (3) established a common emergency travel document for issuance by Member States to citizens of the Union in places where those citizens' Member State of nationality have no permanent diplomatic or consular representation. It is now necessary to update the rules of that Decision and to establish a modernised and more secure format for the EU Emergency Travel Document (‘EU ETD’). Consistency should be ensured between the specific conditions and procedure for issuing EU ETDs and the general rules on consular protection laid down by Directive (EU) 2015/637, since that Directive, including the financial procedure provided for in Article 14 thereof, applies to the issuance of EU ETDs to unrepresented citizens. This Directive should provide additional rules to be applied alongside those set out in Directive (EU) 2015/637 where necessary.

Upon his or her request, an EU ETD should be issued to any unrepresented citizen in a third country whose passport or travel document has been lost, stolen or destroyed, or can otherwise not be obtained within a reasonable time, for example to newborns born during travel or to persons whose documents have expired and cannot be easily replaced by the Member State of nationality. An EU ETD should be issued once the Member State assisting the unrepresented citizen has received confirmation of the citizen's nationality and identity from the Member State of nationality.

Since the loss of a passport or travel documents can cause significant distress to unrepresented citizens in third countries, it is necessary to establish a simplified procedure for cooperation and coordination between the assisting Member State and the unrepresented citizen's Member State of nationality. Member States should ensure that consultations are carried out as quickly as possible, typically within a few working days. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain sufficient flexibility...