REPORTS
Failure of Greece to comply with Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 on identity cards and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members
Each Member State of the European Union must fully apply EU law. The body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law is the European Commission. Where a Member State does not apply EU law and breaches its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see details on the infringement procedure here).
With Regulation (EU) 2019/1157, the EU aims to facilitate free movement in the EU by reinforcing the security and format standards for identity cards and residence documents. Among other things, the aim is to combat fraud related to travel documents and to prevent identity theft. This facilitates the free movement of persons, while safeguarding the security and protection of the peoples of Europe by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
However, as stated in the July infringements package, Greece has not complied with the above EU rules as regards identity cards. For this reason, the European Commission has decided to send Greece a letter of formal notice.
For more information on this procedure and on the European Commission’s decisions regarding the infringement in question, please consult the European Commission’s website by entering INFR(2023)2003 in the ‘Infringement case number’ field.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union. If infringements of EU law are identified, the European Commission may take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure the correct and full application of EU law by opening infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU.
In this particular case, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice, calling on Greece to comply with EU rules on identity cards and residence documents as it considered that the format of the identity cards issued by the country does not comply with Regulation (EU) 2019/1157.
Bank Account number: 1100 0232 0016 560
IBAN: GR56 0140 1100 1100 0232 0016 560
BIC: CRBAGRAA
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