EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2009 2014 Commission{PETI}Committee On Petitions/Commission Date{01/09/2009}192009/Date

european parliament 2009 - 2014 commission{peti}committee on petitions/commission date{01/09/2009}1.9.2009/date

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
2009 - 2014
{PETI}Committee on Petitions
{01/09/2009}1.9.2009
NOTICE TO MEMBERS
Subject: Petition 0394/2007 by Peter Welz (German) on the
policy of the Swedish Cashier Service regarding the issue of ID cards
to non-Swedish nationals
1. Summary of petition
The petitioner refers to the new and more stringent
requirements introduced at the beginning of the year by the Swedish
Cashier Service, Sweden's principal provider in this sector, regarding
the issue to non-Swedish nationals of the identity card necessary to
obtain these services. The petitioner, who is permanently resident and
works in Sweden, objects to the refusal of the Swedish Cashier Service
to recognise his German passport as a valid proof of identity, as a
result of which his application through is bank for the requisite
identity card was rejected, despite the fact that he has been a
customer with the bank for seven years. He argues that this is an
infringement of EU principles regarding discrimination on the basis of
nationality and is accordingly seeking action by the European
Parliament.
2. Admissibility
Declared admissible on 19 September 2007. Information requested from
Commission under Rule 202(6).
3. Commission reply, received on 1 September 2009.
The petitioner, a German national residing in Sweden, complains that
he was obliged to obtain a Swedish identity card in order to be able
to benefit from services of the Svensk Kassaservice AB and that the
Svensk Kassaservice AB refused to recognize his valid German passport
as a proof of identity.
Article 18 of the EC Treaty stipulates that every citizen of the Union
shall have the right to move and reside freely within the territory of
the Member States, subject to the limitations and conditions laid down
in this Treaty and by the measures adopted to give it effect. The
respective limitations and conditions are to be found in Directive
2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family
members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member
States.
The Directive provides that EU citizens who intend to reside in the
host Member State for a period longer than three months are issued
with a registration certificate, if the host Member State requires
them to register with the relevant authorities. The registration
certificate only attests to the fact that its holder is registered
with the relevant national authorities of the host Member State and
has the right to reside there.
The registration certificate is not intended to be used instead of an
identity card or as an identity document. If asked to establish their
identity, EU citizens are entitled to do so by presenting either a
valid identity card or passport issued by the Member State of
nationality. As provided in Article 4(3) of the Directive, these
documents may only be issued to nationals in accordance with national
laws.
The Commission contacted the Swedish authorities in 2007 and asked for
their observations. The reply indicated that there are different types
of ‘identity cards’ in Sweden at the moment - driving licences, SIS
identity cards and national identity cards1. Furthermore, Posten AB
and banks have permission to issue identity cards to their customers.
The Svensk Kassaservice AB (a limited liability company) was
established in 2002 as a subsidiary company to Posten AB, providing a
limited number of financial services under the Basic Counter Services
Act. In addition, the Svensk Kassaservice provides, for commercial
reasons only, other services as well, such as the identity cards.
Since the Svensk Kassaservice discovered that a number of applications
for an identity card were made under false identity, stricter rules
were implemented in order to ensure that identity cards are issued
only to genuine applicants.
As these new rules made it difficult for non-Swedish residents to
obtain such an identity card, the Swedish authorities commissioned a
study into the above matter with the objective to examine the best way
of ensuring that the non-Swedish residents can obtain a Swedish
identity card.
The report was delivered in 2008 and presented several different
alternatives how to deal with the problem. Recognizing the importance
for EU citizens residing in Sweden to be able to obtain a Swedish
SIS-certified identity or authority service cards or Swedish driving
licence, the Swedish authorities adopted a regulation2 concerning ID
cards for people resident in Sweden. The regulation came into force on
1 June 2009. All permanent residents can apply for the ID card.
1 National identity cards are issued by the National Police Board only
to Swedish citizens. SIS identity cards can be issued on a basis of a
permission granted by Det Norske Veritas Certifikation AB. Such a
permission gives the right to issue an identity card to a person with
a direct connection to the issuing body, for instance through
employment.
2 http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=3911&bet=2009:284
CM\789356EN.doc 0/2
PE428.013
EN