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EU Emergency Travel Document

2018/0186(CNS)

The European Parliament adopted by 600 votes to 35, with 6 abstentions, in the framework of a special legislative procedure (consultation of the Parliament), a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council directive establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document and repealing Decision 96/409/CFSP.

The proposal for a Directive repealing Decision 96/409/CFSP aims to establish a new, more secure, model for an EU Emergency Travel Document (EU ETD) for  unrepresented EU citizens outside the EU whose passport has been stolen, lost, destroyed or is temporarily unavailable, in order to guarantee that they can return home safely.

Parliament approved the Commission proposal subject to the following amendments:

Procedure

The proposal provides that 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. 2. The assisting Member State shall provide the Member State of nationality with all relevant information, including the data on the applicant to be included on the EU ETD sticker in accordance with Annex II and a facial image of the applicant.

Members considered that within 24 hours after receipt of the information (rather than 36 hours), the Member State of nationality shall respond to the consultation. In duly justified exceptional cases, Member States may take shorter or longer than these time-limits.

Data retention

The assisting Member State and the Member State of nationality shall retain the personal data of an applicant for no longer than 90 days after the end of the validity of the EU ETD issued. Upon expiry of the retention period, the personal data of an applicant shall be erased. Anonymised data may be kept if necessary for the monitoring and evaluation of this Directive.

Evaluation

No sooner than three years after the date of transposition of this Directive, the Commission shall present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and the Council, including on the appropriateness of the level of security of personal data, and the impact on fundamental rights.