Identity fraud: EU introduces tighter security for ID cards

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Union (EU) has said it is introducing tighter security measures for ID cards in order to reduce identity fraud. Today, representatives of the Romanian Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached an informal agreement on a regulation which will strengthen the security of identity cards of EU citizens and of residence documents issued to EU citizens and their non-EU family members.

The informal agreement will now be presented to EU ambassadors for confirmation on behalf of the Council. The proposed new rules will improve the security of these documents by introducing minimum standards both for the information contained in them and for security features common to all member states that issue them.

“Security throughout the EU can only be achieved by ensuring security in each member state. The new rules on security standards for ID documents will allow us to more easily detect document fraud and identity theft, making it harder for terrorists and criminals to act, while facilitating free movement of genuine travellers.” said Carmen Daniela Dan, Romanian minister of internal affairs

Under the proposed new rules, identity cards will have to be produced in a uniform, credit card format (ID-1), include a machine-readable zone, and follow the minimum security standards set out by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation). They will also need to include a photo and two fingerprints of the cardholder, stored in a digital format, on a contactless chip. ID cards will indicate the country code of the member state issuing them, inside an EU flag.

Identity cards will have a minimum period of validity of 5 years and a maximum period of validity of 10 years. Member states may issue ID cards with a longer validity for persons aged 70 and above. If issued, ID cards for minors may have a period of validity of less than 5 years, the EU said.