BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsforslaget)

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

On 17 April 2018, the Commission adopted a 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 exercising their right of free movement 1 . The Commission proposed that the Parliament and the Council base the regulation on Article 21(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). On the basis of that proposal, the Parliament and the Council adopted, on 20 June 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 2 , which has been in application since 2 August 2021.

In case Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden 3 , the Court of Justice ruled that Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 is invalid due to it having been adopted erroneously on the basis of Article 21(2) TFEU and under the ordinary legislative procedure. According to the Court, Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 is one of the measures that falls within the specific scope of Article 77(3) TFEU, which provides for a special legislative procedure and, in particular, for unanimity in the Council.

While declaring Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 invalid, the Court ruled that the “effects of Regulation 2019/1157 are to be maintained until the entry into force, within a reasonable period which may not exceed two years from 1 January of the year following the date of delivery of the present judgment, of a new regulation based on Article 77(3) TFEU and intended to replace it”.

The purpose of this proposal is to set in motion the procedure for a new 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 being adopted on the appropriate legal basis, namely Article 77(3) TFEU.

This proposal essentially reproduces the text of Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 as adopted by the Parliament and the Council. In particular, the Court ruled that the limitations of the right to respect for private life and of the right to the protection of personal data, enshrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter respectively, flowing from the obligation to include two fingerprints in the storage medium of identity cards are not contrary to the principle of proportionality 4 .

Nevertheless, the Commission considers that it is appropriate to adapt the text in certain minor aspects. These adaptations are explained in the section on ‘Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal’.