#Romania2019.eu/MAI: EU takes stricter security measures for identity cards; uniform format in the Union

Representatives of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on Tuesday reached an informal agreement on the regulation meant to strengthen security of identity cards of EU citizens and residence permits issued to them and to those members of their families who are not EU citizens; the agreement will be next sent to the permanent representatives of the EU, to be confirmed in the name of the Council, informs the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

According to a press release sent on Tuesday by the MAI, the proposed new norms are meant to improve the security of ID cards by introducing minimum standards, both in terms of the information contained in them and in terms of the security features common to all member states that issued them. 

"Security on the entire EU territory cannot be ensured otherwise than by ensuring security of each member state. The new norms regarding the security standards for the ID documents will allows us to identify more easily such cases of fraud or identity theft, while making the mission of terrorists and criminals more hard and while facilitating at the same time the free movement of travelers of good faith," said the Minister of Interior, Carmen Dan. 

According to the new norms, new security standards will be implemented, with the ID cards to have the format of credit cards.