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A European Union Laissez-Passer is a travel document issued to civil servants and members of the Institutions of the European Union. It is proof of privileges and immunities the holders enjoy. The document is valid in all countries of the European Union as well as in over 100 other countries. In 2006, the Commission of the European Communities issued or renewed 2,200 laissez-passers, and other agencies may issue the document as well.^[1]

1 History
2 Appearance
3 Future
4 Laissez-passer note
5 References
6 See also

History[edit]

Provisions for issuing Laissez-passers were already present in the treaties establishing of the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community and a single European Community Laissez-Passer was established in the beginning of the 1970s.^[2] As a result of the Maastricht treaty, the name was changed to European Union Laissez-Passer. The initial Laissez-passer was available in all 4 languages of the communities (French, German, Dutch and Italian), but not in English. Subsequent extensions changed the number of languages to the present 11.

Appearance[edit]

The document contains 22 pages and is available in 11 languages (the official languages prior to extensions of the union after 1995).^[3] Since only textual changes have occurred since its implementation, the appearance and safety level is still at the level of the 1950s. The fields normally present in passports are present in the laissez-passers, including rather detailed information on physical appearance.

Name and forenames
Date of birth
in [designating: Place of birth]
Nationality
Position held
Address
Eyes
Hair
Height
Special peculiarities
Usual signature of bearer

Future[edit]

In 2005, a draft regulation was proposed by the European Commission implementing machine-readable laissez-passer according to ICAO 9303 standard including a digitized photo of the bearer's face and fingerprints.^[1] The fields are reduced and will no longer contain info on address and physical appearance. In line with the practice of United Nations Laissez-Passer, no nationality will be present at as well. For practical reasons, instead of placing all info on the relevant pages in all languages, now the proposed new Laissez-passer contains 3 lead languages (French, English, German), and translation in other languages is present further in the document.

Laissez-passer note[edit]

Similar to most passports, the Laissez-Passer contains a text by the President of the Council of the European Union:

THE PRESIDENT requests all authorities of Member States of the European Union to allow the bearer to pass freely and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "EUR-Lex – 52007DC0849 – EN". Eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
^ "EUR-Lex – 31969R1826 – EN". Eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
^ "EUR-Lex – 31995R0838 – EN". Eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 April 2011.

See also[edit]

Passports

Africa

Central

Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Congo, Republic of the Equatorial Guinea Gabon

ECCAS	Angola Congo, Democratic Republic of the São Tomé and Príncipe

Eastern

Northern

Southern

Western

Mauritania Saint Helena¹

ECOWAS	Benin Burkina Faso Cape Verde Côte d'Ivoire Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo

Americas

Caribbean

Anguilla¹ British Virgin Islands¹ Cayman Islands¹ Cuba Dominican Republic Montserrat¹ Turks and Caicos Islands¹

CARICOM	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Dominica Grenada Haiti Jamaica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago

Central

Costa Rica Panama

CARICOM	Belize

Central America-4	El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua

Northern

South

Chile

Andean	Bolivia Colombia Ecuador Peru

CARICOM	Guyana Suriname

Mercosur	Argentina Brazil Paraguay Uruguay Venezuela

Asia

Central & North	Afghanistan Kazakhstan⁵ Kyrgyzstan Russia³ Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan

East	People's Republic of China Hong Kong¹⁰ Macao¹⁰ Japan Korea, North Korea, South Mongolia Republic of China (Taiwan)⁸

South	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Southeast	Brunei Burma Cambodia East Timor Indonesia Laos Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam

West	Abkhazia⁵ ⁸ Armenia⁶ Azerbaijan⁵ Bahrain Cyprus⁶ Egypt⁷ Georgia⁵ Iran Iraq Islamic State⁹ Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Nagorno-Karabakh⁶ ⁸ Northern Cyprus⁶ ⁸ Oman Palestinian Authority Qatar Saudi Arabia South Ossetia⁵ ⁸ Syria Turkey⁴ United Arab Emirates Yemen

Europe

Other Europe

European Union

Oceania

Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands¹ Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

International organizations
Defunct passports
Passport types

International organizations	European Union laissez-passer International Committee of the Red Cross Interpol United Nations laissez-passer

Defunct	British Indian Empire¹ Czechoslovakia East Germany Korean Empire League of Nations refugee Mandatory Palestine Rhodesia Soviet Union¹¹ UNMIK Travel Document Yugoslavia

Types	Biometric Camouflage Diplomatic Fake Hajj Horse Internal International Machine-readable Pet Travel document alien refugee stateless person World

¹ 1. Includes Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, and former British plantations, crown colonies, colonies, protectorates, protected states, mandates, trust territories and other British possessions.
2. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are not part of the European Union, but Manxmen and Channel Islanders are citizens of the European Union; the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, and Manxmen and Channel Islanders themselves (unless they qualify and apply for recognition of a change in status), are however excluded from the benefits of the Four Freedoms of the European Union.
3. The Government of the United Kingdom also issue passports to British nationals who are not British citizens with the right of abode in the United Kingdom and who are also not otherwise citizens of the European Union.

² Open border with Schengen Area.

³ Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

⁴ Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Western Asia and Southeast Europe.

⁵ Azerbaijan, Georgia (Abkhazia; South Ossetia) and Kazakhstan are transcontinental countries in the Western Asia and Eastern Europe.

⁶ Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) are entirely in Western Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.

⁷ Egypt is a transcontinental country in North Africa and the Western Asia.

⁸ Partially recognized.

⁹ Not recognized by any other state.

¹⁰ Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China

¹¹ The Soviet Union was a transcontinental country located in Eurasia

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