On Thursday 31 May, the European Commission proposed updating the rules of the 2015 directive on consular protection to protect Europeans in the event of loss or theft of their passports or travel documents when travelling abroad. It suggested updating the rules for the issuance of emergency travel papers and strengthening the security elements of the emergency travel document thus issued. Embassies or consulates should accept any other document which proved the identity of these Europeans without consular representation in the country.
It will be compulsory for embassies or consulates to deliver EU emergency travel documents to unrepresented EU citizens. An emergency travel document must allow such persons to return home. They must then hand in the emergency document as a matter of security.
In theory, the member state assisting in this process must consult the member state of origin of the person concerned and request elements of identification. The member state of origin must respond within 36 hours but, in crisis situations, the assistance state may not necessarily require prior verification from the country of origin.
“Since 1996, EU rules allow EU citizens whose passport or travel documents have been lost or stolen during a trip abroad to obtain temporary travel papers. Passports lost or stolen represent over 60% of consular assistance cases”, the Commission explains.
With the new rules in place, the new EU emergency travel documents will also be “more secure, as they will have machine-readable features”.
For more on the proposal, please see this link: https://bit.ly/2xs65zq . (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)