CELEX: 52001PC0157(03)
Language: en
Date: 2001-03-23
Title: Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals

C 180 E/304            EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                      26.6.2001
               Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-
                                                             country nationals
                                                             (2001/C 180 E/29)
                                                          (Text with EEA relevance)
                                                COM(2001) 157 final  2001/0082(CNS)
                                             (Submitted by the Commission on 22 March 2001)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,                                          (7) To ensure that the information referred to is not made
                                                                                available to more persons than necessary, it is also
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                           essential that each Member State should designate not
Community, and in particular Article 63 (3) thereof,                            more than one body having responsibility for printing
                                                                                the uniform format for residence permits, with Member
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                              States remaining free to change the body. For security
                                                                                reasons, each Member State must communicate the
                                                                                name of the competent body to the Commission and to
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
                                                                                the other Member States.
Whereas:
  (1) The Amsterdam Treaty aims establishing progressively an               (8) With regard to the personal data to be entered on the
      area of freedom, security and justice and confers a shared                uniform format for residence permits, compliance should
      right of initiative to the Commission in order to take the                be ensured with Directive 95/46/EC of the European
      relevant measures on a harmonised immigration policy.                     Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on
                                                                                the protection of individuals with regard to the processing
                                                                                of personal data and on the free movement of such
  (2) The special European Council of Tampere emphasised the                    data (3).
      need for this harmonised immigration policy and in view
      of the provisions of the Treaty related to the entry and
      residence of third-country nationals.
                                                                            (9) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
  (3) The Joint Action of 16 December 1996 adopted by the                       this Regulation are measures of general scope within the
      Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on                      meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
      European Union concerning a uniform format for                            28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise
      residence permits (97/11/JHA) (1) confirms the necessity                  of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (4),
      to harmonise the format of residence permits issued by                    they should be adopted by use of the regulatory
      Member States to third country nationals.                                 procedure provided for in Article 5 of that decision.
  (4) The Joint Action 97/11/JHA should now be replaced by a
      Community measure.                                                  (10) The present Regulation constitutes in relation to the
                                                                                implementation of the Agreement on the association of
  (5) It is essential that the uniform format for residence                     Norway and Iceland a development of the Schengen
      permits should contain all the necessary information                      acquis in the sense of the Protocol integrating the
      and meet very high technical standards, in particular as                  Schengen acquis into the framework of the European
      regards safeguards against counterfeiting and falsification;              Union;
      this will contribute to the objective of preventing and
      fighting against illegal immigration and illegal residence.
      It must also be suited to use by all the Member States and          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
      bear universally recognisable harmonised security features,
      which are clearly visible to the naked eye.
                                                                                                        Article 1
  (6) This Regulation only lays down such specifications as are
      not secret; these specifications need to be supplemented            1.     Residence permits issued by Member States to third
      by further specifications which are to remain secret in             country nationals shall be in a uniform format and provide
      order to prevent counterfeiting and falsifications and              space for the information set out in the annex hereto. The
      which may not include personal data or references to                uniform format can be used as a sticker or a stand-alone
      such data. Powers to adopt such supplementary specifi-              document. Each Member State may add in the relevant space
      cations should be conferred to the Commission, who shall            of the uniform format information of importance regarding the
      be assisted by the Committee established by Article 6 of            nature of the permit and the legal status of the person
      Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995                   concerned, in particular information as to whether or not
      laying down a uniform format for visas (2).                         the person is permitted to work.
(1) OJ L 7, 10.1.1997, p. 1.                                              (3) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
(2) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995, p. 1.                                            (4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
 ---pagebreak--- 26.6.2001              EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 180 E/305
2.      For the purpose of this Regulation:                                where appropriate, to ask for any corrections or deletions to
                                                                           be made.
(a) residence permit shall mean any authorisation issued by
     the authorities of a Member State allowing a third country            No information in machine-readable form shall be included in
     national to stay legally on its territory, with the exception         the residence permit, unless provided for in the Annex hereto,
     of:                                                                   or unless it is mentioned in the relevant travel document.
      (i) visas,                                                                                       Article 5
     (ii) permits issued pending examination of an application             This Regulation does not apply to third-country nationals, who
          for a residence permit or for asylum.                            are:
(b) third-country national shall mean any person who is not a             members of the families of citizens of the Union exercising
     citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 17 (1) of               their right to free movement,
     the Treaty establishing the European Community.
                                                                            nationals of Member States of the European Free Trade
                              Article 2                                         Association party to the Agreement on the European
                                                                                Economic Area and members of their families exercising
Additional technical specifications for the uniform format for                  their right to free movement in accordance with this
residence permits relating to the following shall be established                agreement.
in compliance with the procedure referred to in Article 6 (2):
                                                                                                       Article 6
(a) further security requirements including enhanced anti-
     forgery, counterfeiting and falsification standards.                  1.     The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee
                                                                           instituted by Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1683/95.
(b) conditions of storage to prevent theft;
                                                                           2.     Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory
(c) rules for the filling-in of the uniform residence permit;
                                                                           procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC
(d) other conditions necessary for the implementation of the               shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 thereof.
     uniform format.
                                                                           3.     The period provided for in Article 5 (6) of Decision
                              Article 3                                    1999/468/EC shall be one month.
The specifications referred to in Article 2 shall be secret and                                        Article 7
not be published. They shall be made available only to the                 Member States shall issue the uniform form for residence
bodies designated by the Member States as responsible for                  permits set out in Article 1 no later than one year after the
the printing and to persons duly authorised by a Member                    adoption of the measures referred to in Article 2(a).
State or the Commission.
                                                                           From that time, this Regulation shall replace in the Member
Each Member State shall designate one body having responsi-                State concerned the Joint Action 97/11/JHA.
bility for printing the uniform residence permit. It shall
communicate the name of that body to the Commission and                    However, the validity of authorisations granted in documents
the other Member States. The same body may be designated by                already issued shall not be affected by the introduction of the
two or more Member States. Each Member State shall be                      uniform format for residence permits, unless the Member State
entitled to change its designated body. It shall inform the                concerned decides otherwise.
Commission and the other Member States accordingly.
                                                                                                       Article 8
                              Article 4
                                                                           This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
The format, production and use of the uniform residence                    following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
permit shall comply with Directive 95/46/EC.                               European Communities.
Without prejudice to these rules, persons to whom the                      This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
residence permit is issued shall have the right to verify the              applicable in all Member States in accordance with the EC
personal particulars contained in the residence permit and,                Treaty.
 ---pagebreak--- C 180 E/306          EN                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                                     26.6.2001
                                                                          ANNEX
            (a) Description
                The residence permit will be produced either as a sticker, if possible in ID 2 format, or as a stand-alone document in
                ID 1 or ID 2 format. It should be orientated to the specifications set out in the ICAO Document on machine-
                readable visas (Document 9303 part 2) or on machine-readable travel documents (cards) (Document 9303 part 3). It
                shall contain the following items:
                 1. The title of the document (Residence permit) shall appear in the language(s) of the issuing Member State (*).
                 2. The document number  with special security features and preceded by an identification letter .
                 3. 1. Name: surname and forename(s) in that order (*).
                 4. 2. Valid until: shall indicate the relevant expiry date, or, where appropriate, a word to indicate unlimited validity
                 5. 3. Place/date of issue: the place and date of issue of the residence permit (*).
                 6. 4. Type of permit: the specific type of residence permit issued to the third country national by the Member
                     State (*). For the member of the family of a EU citizen, who has not exercised the right of free movement it
                     should be mentioned family member.
                  7. 5.-9. Remarks: Member States may enter details and indications for national use necessary with regard to their
                     rules on third country nationals including indications relating to any permission to work (*).
                 8. Date/Signature/Authorisation:  if necessary  the signature and seal of the issuing authority and/or the
                     holder.
                 9. The printed area shall contain the national emblem of the Member State to distinguish the residence permit and
                     provide a safeguard of its national origin.
                10. Machine-readable area. The machine-readable area shall conform to ICAO guidelines.
                11. The machine-readable area shall contain a printed text indicating exclusively the respective Member State. This
                     text may not affect the technical features of the machine-readable zone.
                12. Metallized latent image effect including the country code of the Member State, if a sticker or a non-laminated
                     paper card is used.
                13. OVD (kinegram or equivalent sign).
                14. If the residence permit is produced as a stand-alone document, an identity photograph shall be affixed and
                     secured with OVD film (kinefilm or equivalent security laminate).
                15. The following additional information boxes shall be provided on the back in the case of a stand-alone document:
                      date/place of birth (*),
                      nationality (*),
                      sex (*),
                      remarks (*).
                     The address of the permit holder may also be indicated (*).
            (*) Where this information appears in an official language using non-Latin characters, it should be transliterated in Latin characters.
 ---pagebreak--- 26.6.2001           EN                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                           C 180 E/307
          (b) Colour, Printing procedure
              The Member States establish the colour and the printing procedure in accordance with the uniform model set out in
              this Annex and the technical specifications to be established in accordance with Article 2 of the Regulation.
          (c) Material
              The paper used for the residence permit giving personal particulars or other data shall meet the following
              requirements:
               no optical brighteners,
               duo-tone watermarks,
               security reagents to guard against attempts at tampering by chemical erasure,
               coloured fibres (partly visible, partly fluorescent under UV light),
               UV-fluorescent planchettes.
              If a card for inserting personal data is made entirely of plastic, it is not usually possible to incorporate the auth-
              entication marks used in residence permit paper. The lack of marks in the materials shall be compensated for by
              measures in respect of security printing, use of OVDs (OVD = optically variable device), or an issuing technique over
              and above the following enhanced standards. The essential security features of the material should be of a uniform
              pattern.
          (d) Printing technique
              The following printing techniques shall be available:
               Background printing:
                   two-tone guilloches,
                   fluorescent rainbow colouring,
                   UV-fluorescent overprinting,
                   effective anti-counterfeiting and falsification motifs
                   reagent inks must be used on paper cards and stickers.
              The lay-out of the front side of a card shall be distinguishable from the back side.
               Form printing:
                   with integrated micro printing (unless already included in background printing).
               Numbering:
                   Printed (where possible with a special style of figures or typeface and in UV-fluorescent ink), or, in cards
                   integrated using the same technique as for the biographical data. If a sticker is used, printed numbering
                   using fluorescent ink and a special style of figures is obligatory.
                   If stickers or non-laminated paper cards are used, intaglio printing with latent image effect, micro text and
                   optically variable ink shall also be employed. Additional optically variable security devices shall also be used on
                   cards made entirely of plastic, at least through the use of optically variable ink or equivalent measures. The
                   essential features of the security printing should be of a uniform pattern.
          (e) Protection against copying
              A harmonised optically variable (OVD) or equivalent device shall be used on the residence permit sticker or on the
              front of the residence permit card and shall take the form of diffractive structures (kinegram or equivalent) incor-
              porated into the hot-sealed laminate or as an OVD overlay, or, on stickers or a non-laminated paper card, as
              metallised OVD (with intaglio overprinting).
 ---pagebreak--- C 180 E/308          EN                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                             26.6.2001
            (f) Issuing technique
                To ensure that residence permit data are properly secured against attempts at counterfeiting and falsification,
                personal data including the photograph, the holder’s signature and main issue data shall in future be integrated
                into the basic material of the document. Conventional methods of attaching the photograph shall no longer be used.
                The following issuing techniques may be used:
                laser printing,
                thermo-transfer,
                ink-jet printing,
                photographic,
                laser engraving.
                To ensure that biographical issue data are adequately protected against attempts at tampering, hot-seal lamination
                with OVD security laminate shall be made compulsory where laser printing, thermo-transfer or photographic
                techniques are used.
            (g) Member States have the possibility as regards to point (c), (d) and (e) to introduce further security features in so far
                as these are in conformity with decisions already taken about these matters.
                The technical requirements and the security features shall correspond to the requirements and specifications set out
                in Regulation (EC) 1683/95 laying down a uniform format for visas.
            Residence Permit for third country nationals in card-form
 ---pagebreak--- 26.6.2001        EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities C 180 E/309
          Residence Permit for third country nationals in sticker form