http://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2019/1157/chapter/IIRegulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement (Text with EEA relevance)Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement (Text with EEA relevance)2020-12-10King's Printer of Acts of Parliamenthttps://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/eu-exit/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R1157texttext/xmlen2019-06-20 CHAPTER II <Strong>NATIONAL IDENTITY CARDS</Strong> Security standards/format/specifications Article 3 1 Identity cards issued by Member States shall be produced in ID-1 format and shall contain a machine-readable zone (MRZ). Such identity cards shall be based on the specifications and minimum security standards set out in ICAO Document 9303 and shall comply with the requirements set out in points (c), (d), (f) and (g) of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/1954. 2 The data elements included on identity cards shall comply with the specifications set out in part 5 of ICAO document 9303. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the document number may be inserted in zone I and the designation of a person's gender shall be optional. 3 The document shall bear the title ‘Identity card’ or another well-established national designation in the official language or languages of the issuing Member State, and the words ‘Identity card’ in at least one other official language of the institutions of the Union. 4 The identity card shall contain, on the front side, the two-letter country code of the Member State issuing the card, printed in negative in a blue rectangle and encircled by 12 yellow stars. 5 Identity cards shall include a highly secure storage medium which shall contain a facial image of the holder of the card and two fingerprints in interoperable digital formats. For the capture of biometric identifiers, Member States shall apply the technical specifications as established by Commission Implementing Decision C(2018) 7767. 6 The storage medium shall have sufficient capacity and capability to guarantee the integrity, the authenticity and the confidentiality of the data. The data stored shall be accessible in contactless form and secured as provided for in Implementing Decision C(2018) 7767. Member States shall exchange the information necessary to authenticate the storage medium and to access and verify the biometric data referred to in paragraph 5. 7 Children under the age of 12 years may be exempt from the requirement to give fingerprints. Children under the age of 6 years shall be exempt from the requirement to give fingerprints. Persons in respect of whom fingerprinting is physically impossible shall be exempt from the requirement to give fingerprints. 8 When necessary and proportionate to the aim to be achieved, Member States may enter such details and observations for national use as may be required in accordance with national law. The efficiency of minimum security standards and the cross-border compatibility of identity cards shall not be diminished as a result. 9 Where Member States incorporate a dual interface or a separate storage medium in the identity card, the additional storage medium shall comply with the relevant ISO standards and shall not interfere with the storage medium referred to in paragraph 5. 10 Where Member States store data for electronic services such as e-government and e-business in the identity cards, such national data shall be physically or logically separated from the biometric data referred to in paragraph 5. 11 Where Member States add additional security features to identity cards, the cross-border compatibility of such identity cards and the efficiency of the minimum security standards shall not be diminished as a result. Period of validity Article 4 1 Identity cards shall have a minimum period of validity of five years and a maximum period of validity of ten years. 2 By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may provide for a period of validity of: a less than five years, for identity cards issued to minors; b in exceptional cases, less than five years, for identity cards issued to persons in special and limited circumstances and where their period of validity is limited in compliance with Union and national law; c more than 10 years, for identity cards issued to persons aged 70 and above. 3 Member States shall issue an identity card having a validity of 12 months or less where it is temporarily physically impossible to take fingerprints of any of the fingers of the applicant. Phasing out Article 5 1 Identity cards which do not meet the requirements set out in Article 3 shall cease to be valid at their expiry or by 3 August 2031, whichever is earlier. 2 By way of derogation from paragraph 1: a identity cards which do not meet the minimum security standards set out in part 2 of ICAO document 9303 or which do not include a functional MRZ, as defined in paragraph 3, shall cease to be valid at their expiry or by 3 August 2026, whichever is earlier; b identity cards of persons aged 70 and above at 2 August 2021, which meet the minimum security standards set out in part 2 of ICAO document 9303 and which have a functional MRZ, as defined in paragraph 3, shall cease to be valid at their expiry. 3 For the purpose of paragraph 2, a functional MRZ shall mean: a a machine-readable zone compliant with part 3 of ICAO document 9303; or b any other machine-readable zone for which the issuing Member State notifies the rules required for reading and displaying the information contained therein, unless a Member State notifies the Commission, by 2 August 2021, of its lack of capacity to read and display this information. Upon receipt of a notification as referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, the Commission shall inform the Member State concerned and the Council accordingly. Commission Implementing Decision C(2018) 7767 of 30 November 2018 laying down the technical specifications for the uniform format for residence permits for third country nationals and repealing Decision C(2002) 3069.