Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/1986 of 6 May 2024 amending Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 as regards the machine-readable zone of the EU Emergency Travel Document
Date: 2024-05-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU national, European passport, International Civil Aviation Organisation, border control, external border of the EU, free movement of persons, international standard, technical specification, third country




L_202401986EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2024/1986


16.7.2024







            COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1986
of 6 May 2024
         
amending Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 as regards the machine-readable zone of the EU Emergency Travel Document


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 of 18 June 2019 establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document and repealing Decision 96/409/CFSP (1), and in particular Article 8(3) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


Directive (EU) 2019/997 lays down rules on the conditions and procedure for unrepresented citizens in third countries to obtain an EU Emergency Travel Document (‘EU ETD’) and establishes a uniform format for such document.












(2)


In accordance with Article 8 of Directive (EU) 2019/997, EU ETDs are to consist of a uniform EU ETD form and a uniform EU ETD sticker. The form and sticker are to conform to the specifications set out in Annexes I and II to that Directive and the additional technical specifications established in accordance with Article 9 of that Directive. When the uniform EU ETD sticker is filled in, the sections set out in Annex II to Directive (EU) 2019/997 are to be completed and the machine-readable zone filled in, in line with the standards established by part 3 of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Document 9303.












(3)


Point 10 of Annex II to Directive (EU) 2019/997 provides that the uniform EU ETD sticker is to contain the relevant machine-readable information in line with ICAO Document 9303 to facilitate external border controls. The capital letters ‘AE’ are to be used as the first two characters of the machine-readable zone to designate the document as an EU Emergency Travel Document.












(4)


When Directive (EU) 2019/997 was adopted, ICAO standards did not contain specific rules on the first two characters to be used in the machine-readable zone of emergency travel documents.












(5)


In the context of its meeting of 26 February to 1 March 2024, the ICAO Facilitation Panel endorsed the use of the capital letters ‘PU’ in single-sheet emergency travel documents.












(6)


To ensure that the EU ETD remains aligned with technical progress in the international standards for such documents, it is necessary to replace the reference to the capital letters ‘AE’ as the first two characters of the machine-readable zone in Annex II to Directive (EU) 2019/997 with ‘PU’.












(7)


Directive (EU) 2019/997 should thus be amended accordingly.












(8)


In order to ensure that Directive (EU) 2019/997 is fully in line with technical progress from the date of the commencement of its application as determined by reference to the adoption of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2452 (2), the technical standard laid down in this Directive should be applicable from the date that Directive (EU) 2019/997 starts to apply,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:



Article 1
In Annex II to Directive (EU) 2019/997, point 10 is replaced by the following:






‘10.


The uniform EU ETD sticker shall contain the relevant machine-readable information in line with ICAO Document 9303 to facilitate external border controls. The capital letters ‘PU’ shall be used as the first two characters of the machine-readable zone to designate the document as an EU Emergency Travel Document. The machine-readable zone shall contain a printed text in the visible background printing with the words ‘European Union’ in all the official languages of the Union. That text shall not affect the technical features of the machine-readable zone or its ability to be read.’.






Article 2

1.   Member States shall adopt and publish, by 9 December 2024 at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions.
They shall apply those provisions from 9 December 2025.
When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.


2.   Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.



Article 3
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.


Article 4
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.




Done at Brussels, 6 May 2024.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 163, 20.6.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/997/oj


(2)  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2452 of 8 December 2022 laying down additional technical specifications for the EU Emergency Travel Document established by Council Directive (EU) 2019/997 (OJ L 320, 14.12.2022, p. 47, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2022/2452/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2024/1986/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)