The first paragraph of Article 6 of Protocol No 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union (‘Protocol’) provides that the Council prescribes the form of the laissez-passer which are to be recognised as valid travel documents by the authorities of the Member States.

It is recalled that the first paragraph of Article 6 of the Protocol applies to members of the institutions of the Union and servants of the Union, who are subject either to the Staff Regulations of Officials or the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union1.

Article 23 of the Staff Regulations of Officials, as well as Articles 11 and 81 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, lay down the conditions under which the laissez-passer is issued to servants of the Union.

In the interest of the Union and in order to comply with the duty of care, the benefit of the laissez-passer may be extended, on exceptional basis and upon due motivation, to special applicants.

In any event, a laissez-passer does not grant privileges and immunities to its holder.

The laissez-passer is to be recognised as a valid travel document by the authorities of the Member States. The Commission should make use of the possibility provided for under the second paragraph of Article 6 of the Protocol to conclude necessary agreements with third countries with a view to recognising laissez-passer as valid travel documents for border crossing and within the territory of third countries.

Developments at Union level, in particular the establishment of the European External Action Service, have further enhanced the need for a coherent approach at the international and Union levels.

The form of the laissez-passer should be upgraded to achieve enhanced security standards and to contribute to ensuring a proper level of protection against forgery, counterfeiting and falsification. Common security standards and interoperable biometric identifiers should be integrated into the laissez-passer in order to establish a reliable link between the rightful holder and the document, making an important contribution to ensuring protection against its fraudulent use.

In particular, the form of the laissez-passer should comply with the security standards and technical specifications applicable to the national travel documents issued by Member States pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/20042. This allows for compliance with the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (‘ICAO’), in particular those appearing in ICAO Document 9303 on machine-readable travel documents, as they will contribute to protecting the laissez-passer against fraudulent use and to having it internationally recognised as a valid travel document. Likewise, the Union should participate in the ICAO Public Key Directory following the applicable ICAO standards and recommended practices with a view to allowing facilitated worldwide validation of laissez-passer.

In order to ensure that uniform conditions for future security standards and technical specifications for passports and travel documents issued by Member States apply equally, where appropriate, to Union laissez-passer, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Moreover, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to establish rules for institutions, agencies or other bodies of the Union, as well as to the European External Action Service (hereinafter referred to as the ‘institutions’), in cases of loss, theft, issuance of duplicates and returns of laissez-passer. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council3.

The advisory procedure should be used for the adoption of implementing acts ensuring, where appropriate, compliance with future minimum security standards and technical specifications for passports and travel documents issued by Member States adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004, which may remain secret in order to prevent the risk of counterfeiting and falsifications. The advisory procedure should also be used for the adoption of implementing acts on the handling of cases of loss, theft, issuance of duplicates and returns of laissez-passer by the institutions. Under the advisory procedure the Commission should be assisted by the Committee established by Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) no 1683/954.

It should be ensured that no further information is stored in the laissez-passer‘s electronic medium other than that pursuant to this Regulation and the Annexes thereto.

Each institution, individually or acting together on the basis of service-level agreements, responsible for the processing of the personal data of its own staff or of other agents, and the Commission acting as a central point for processing purposes, should ensure compliance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council5.

In order to ensure that personal data are not made available to more persons than necessary, it is essential that the Commission coordinate the implementation of this Regulation and designate a single entity having the responsibility for the production and personalisation of the laissez-passer. Specific consideration should be given by the Commission to ensure secure access to the personal data contained in the laissez-passer for the purposes of production and personalisation by the authorised single entity ensuring an adequate level of data protection.

Personal data should be kept in the register or by the entity only for the time necessary to achieve the purposes for which they were collected and to ensure that data subjects are able to access their personal data in order to exercise their rights. Personal data should be automatically deleted after a period following the closure of the proceeding. This period of time should be justified and motivated.

In order to prevent falsification and fraudulent use of the laissez-passer, the single entity designated by the Commission to produce and personalise the laissez-passer should be selected in accordance with the provisions applicable to the award of contracts, in particular those of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 966/2012 of European Parliament and Council6, and taking due account of the sensitive nature of the documents to be produced.

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives pursued in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union.

This Regulation should replace Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 1826/69 of the Council7. Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 1826/69 should therefore be repealed with effect from 25 November 2015 following a transitional period.

It is necessary to provide for a transitional period from the entry into force of this Regulation until 24 November 2015, when it will still be possible to issue and use laissez-passer pursuant to Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 1826/69. However, this transitional possibility should be applied in such a way that, from the moment when laissez-passer start being issued pursuant to this Regulation, no more laissez-passer are issued pursuant to Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 1826/69, and such laissez-passer still in circulation are systematically replaced until 24 November 2015. This approach will limit as much as possible the period during which the two forms of laissez-passer circulate simultaneously,