COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents in the European Union and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012
Date: 2016-04-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: administrative cooperation, area of freedom, security and justice, civil status, criminal record, cross-frontier data flow, exchange of information, intergovernmental cooperation (EU), mutual recognition principle, registration of a company

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 8.4.2016  
COM(2016) 206 final 

2013/0119 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the 
requirements for presenting certain public documents in the European Union and 
amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 

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2013/0119 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the 
requirements for presenting certain public documents in the European Union and 
amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council (COM(2013) 228 final, 2013/0119 (COD)1) 

24.04.2013 

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social 
Committee (INT/700 - CES4005-2013):  

11.07.2013 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

04.02.2014 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

11.03.2016 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The objective of the proposal on public documents is to cut red tape and costs for citizens and 
businesses when they need to present to the authorities of a Member State a public document 
issued  by  the  authorities  of  another  Member  State.  The  proposal  does  not  apply  to  public 
documents  issued  by  the  authorities  of  third  countries  (even  where  such  documents  have 
already been accepted as authentic by the authorities of a Member State). 

Under  the  proposal,  public  documents  on  certain  matters  (for  example,  birth,  marriage  or 
representation  of  a  company)  issued  in  a  Member  State  must  be  accepted  as  authentic  in 
another Member State without the need for such documents bearing an authentication stamp 
(the  apostille).  The  proposal  also  abolishes  the  obligation  to  provide  in  all  cases  certified 
copies  and  certified  translations  of  public  documents  issued  in  another  Member  State.  The 
proposal  strengthens  the  fight  against  fraud  by  introducing  a  system  of  administrative 
cooperation between Member States based on the Internal Market Information system (IMI) 
that  will  enable  Member  States  to  communicate  with  each  other  in  case  of  doubt  about  the 
authenticity of a public document. The proposal introduces self-standing Union multilingual 
standard forms for cross-border use aimed at avoiding translation requirements. The proposal 
does  not  deal  with  the  recognition  in  a  Member  State  of  the  content  of  a  public  document 
issued in another Member State. 

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Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  promoting  the  free 
movement of citizens and businesses by simplifying the acceptance of certain public documents in the 
European Union and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 

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3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

Overall  the  Council’s  position  endorses  the  core  objective  of  the  Commission  proposal, 
namely  to  cut  red  tape  and  costs  for  citizens  and  thereby  simplify  the  circulation  of  certain 
public documents. However, the Council has introduced some changes in the  Commission's 
proposal.  

With  regard  to  the  areas  covered  by  the  Regulation,  the  Council's  text  covers  public 
documents  for  the  benefit  of  citizens,  in  particular  civil  status  documents,  but  excludes 
business-related documents. However, in line with the trilogue discussions, the Council's text 
covers  civil  status  documents  in  an  extended  number  of  areas.  It  also  includes  a  revised 
review clause that refers to certain public documents concerning businesses and also citizens 
and provides that a review to consider the inclusion of these additional areas in the regulation 
will be carried out at an earlier date than the date for the general review of the regulation.  

In  the  Council's  text,  the  self-standing  multilingual  standard  forms  have  become  translation 
aids to be attached to the public document. However, in line with the trilogue discussions, the 
Council's  text  introduces  seven  additional  forms  to  avoid  translation  requirements  in 
additional areas.  

The  Council's  text  allows  the  receiving  Member  States  to  require  certified  translations  of 
public  documents  in  languages  other  than  those  expressly  accepted  by  each  Member  State. 
However, in line with the trilogue discussions, the Council's text clarifies that, where a public 
document is accompanied by a multilingual standard form, a translation of the document can 
only be required exceptionally. 

The Council's text notes that, although a Member State authority cannot require an apostille 
on a public document issued by another Member State authority, citizens can continue to ask 
for an apostille. However, in line with the trilogue discussions, the Council's text includes the 
obligation  on  Member  States  and  the  Commission  to  inform  citizens  on  the  content  of  the 
regulation both in individual contacts and through web-based information portals. 

Despite  the  changes  introduced  by  the  Council,  the  core  principles  of  the  Commission 
proposal,  namely  the  abolition  of  the  apostille  requirement,  the  simplification  of  formalities 
concerning translations and certified copies and the use of the IMI as a system of cooperation 
between  Member  States  to  fight  against  fraud,  are  preserved.  Further  to  the  changes 
introduced in the proposal as agreed by the co-legislators in trilogue discussions, the title of 
the proposed regulation was adjusted. 

Following  the  informal  trilogue  discussions  held  on  15  July  2015,  17  September  2015,  28 
September  2015,  6  October  2015  and  13  October  2015,  the  Parliament  and  the  Council 
reached a provisional political agreement on the text. 

This  political  agreement  was  confirmed  by  the  Council  on  3  December  2015  and,  on  11 
March 2016, the Council adopted its first reading position. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

As all amendments to the Commission proposal were discussed during the informal trilogue 
discussions, the Commission can accept the amendments that the Council adopted in its first 
reading position. 

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