National identity cards in the European Economic Area and Switzerland

European Economic Area Европейска икономическа зона (Bulgarian) Evropský hospodářský prostor (Czech) Europæisk Økonomisk Samarbejdsområde (Danish) Europese Economische Ruimte (Dutch) Euroopa Majanduspiirkond (Estonian) Euroopan talousalue (Finnish) Espace économique européen (French) Europäischer Wirtschaftsraum (German) Ευρωπαϊκός Οικονομικός Χώρος (Greek) Európai Gazdasági Térség (Hungarian) Evrópska efnahagssvæðið (Icelandic) Limistéar Eorpach Eacnamaíoch (Irish) Spazio economico europeo (Italian) Eiropas Ekonomikas zonas (Latvian) Europos ekonominės erdvės (Lithuanian) Żona Ekonomika Ewropea (Maltese) Europeiske økonomiske samarbeidsområde (Maltese) Europejski Obszar Gospodarczy (Polish) Espaço Económico Europeu (Portuguese) Spaţiul Economic European (Romanian) Európsky hospodársky priestor (Slovak) Evropski gospodarski prostor (Slovene) Espacio Económico Europeo (Spanish) Europeiska ekonomiska samarbetsområdet (Swedish)
EFTA member countries excluding Switzerland   European Union member-states excluding Croatia
Members	30 full members Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Liechtenstein Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Norway Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom

National identity cards are issued by European Economic Area member states (European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) to their citizens. EEA member states' citizens holding a national identity card, which state citizenship, can not only use it as an identity document within their home country, but also as a travel document to exercise the right of free movement in the EEA and Switzerland. Other identity cards, including national identity cards issued to residents who are non-EEA citizens, are only valid as an identity document within the issuing country and are not valid as a travel document for the rest of the EEA and Switzerland.

At present, five European Economic Area member states (Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and United Kingdom) do not issue national identity cards to their citizens. Therefore, EEA member states' citizens from these five countries can only use a passport as a travel document when visiting other countries in the EEA or Switzerland.

Use

As an alternative to holding a passport, EEA member states' citizens can use a valid national identity card as a travel document to exercise the right of free movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, without a visa. An exception is Sweden, where the national id card is not valid if travelling to or from a non-Schengen EU country.

Strictly speaking, it is not necessary for an EEA or Swiss citizen to possess a valid national identity card or passport to enjoy the right of free movement. In theory, if an EEA or Swiss citizen can prove his/her nationality by any other means (e.g. by presenting an expired national identity card or passport, or a citizenship certificate), he/she must be permitted to enter and reside in the EEA and Switzerland without a visa. An EEA or Swiss citizen who is unable to demonstrate his/her nationality satisfactorily must nonetheless be given 'every reasonable opportunity' to obtain the necessary documents or to have them delivered within a reasonable period of time.

Additionally, EEA member states' nationals can enter a number of other non-EEA countries and EEA member's territories in Europe, which are not part of the EEA, with their national ID cards (if issued), namely:

Albania Andorra Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo Macedonia Monaco Montenegro San Marino Serbia Vatican City

United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey

Denmark Faroe Islands

Norway Svalbard

Common design and security features

On 13 July 2005, the Justice and Home Affairs Council called on all European Union member states to adopt common designs and security features for national identity cards by December 2005, with detailed standards being laid out as soon as possible thereafter.

On 4 December 2006, all European Union member states agreed to adopt the following common designs and minimum security standards for national identity cards that were in the draft resolution of 15 November 2006:

Material

The card can be made with paper core that is laminated on both sides or made entirely of a synthetic substrate.

Biographical data

The biographical data on the card is to be machine readable.

Overview of national identity cards

Member state	Front	Reverse	Compulsory/optional	Cost	Validity	Issuing authority	Latest version
Austria			Optional (if a form of ID is required in daily life, passports and driving licences are also universally accepted)	€61.50 (applicants aged 16 or over) €26.30 (children aged 2–15) Free of charge (children under 2)	10 years (applicants aged 12 or over) 5 years (children aged 2–11) 2 years (children under 2)		1 January 2005
Belgium			Compulsory for Belgian citizens aged 15 or over	€17 (urgent: € 123 or more) equivalent of € 11 or € 17 in local currency (citizens registered abroad)	5 years 10 years for old style ID cards issued by Belgian consulates	city administration consulate (citizens registered abroad)	1 March 2010
Bulgaria			Compulsory for Bulgarian citizens aged 14 or over to have an ID card		10 years (adults aged 18 or over) 4 years (children aged 14–17)		29 March 2010
Cyprus				€8.54	10 years		1 July 2008
Czech Republic			Compulsory for Czech citizens aged 15 or over who are permanently resident in the Czech Republic		10 years (applicants aged 15 or over) 5 years (children aged under 15)		1 January 2012
Denmark	No national identity card
Estonia			Compulsory for all Estonian citizens and permanent residents aged 15 or over.	€24.28 (applicants aged 15 or over) or €50 (in embassies) €6.39 (children under 15, retirees, persons with disabilities) or €10 (in embassies) €44.73 (urgent)	5 years	Police and Border Guard Board	1 January 2011
Finland			Optional	€53 (applicants aged 18 or over) €36 (children under 18)	5 years		31 May 2011
France		File:French identity card back.png	Optional	Free of charge 25 € (if the previous one cannot be presented, e.g. it was lost or stolen)	10 years	Police (Paris) Mayor's office in the town of residence (France, except Paris) French consulate (overseas)	1 October 1994
Germany			Compulsory for German citizens aged 16 or over to have either an ID card or a passport	28.80€ (adults aged 24 or over) 22.80€ (applicants aged under 24)	10 years (adults aged 24 or over) 6 years (applicants aged under 24)	city or town of residence	1 November 2010
Gibraltar			Compulsory if you want to work	Free of charge	10 years (adults aged 16 or over) 5 years (children under 16)	Civil Status and Registration Office, Gibraltar	8 December 2000
Greece			Compulsory for Greek citizens aged 12 or over		15 years		1 July 2010
Hungary			Compulsory for Hungarian citizens aged 14 or over (unless they already possess a passport or driving licence)				9 April 2001
Iceland	The Icelandic state-issued identity cards do not state nationality and are not usable as national identity cards outside Nordic countries.
Ireland	No identity card
Italy			Compulsory for Italian citizens aged 15 or over	€25.42 (duplicate €30.58)	10 years		2001
Latvia					5 years		2012
Liechtenstein			Optional	CHF80 (adults aged 15 or over) CHF30 (children under 15)	10 years (adults aged 15 or over) 3 years (children under 15)	Immigration and Passport Office, Vaduz
Lithuania					10 years (adults aged 16 or over) 5 years (children under 16)		1 January 2009
Luxembourg					10 years (applicants aged 15 or over) 5 years (children aged 4–14) 2 years (children under 4)		1 December 2008
Malta							1 January 2002
The Netherlands			Optional (However, everyone aged 14 or over is required to show a valid identification document to the police when asked)	€31.85 (applicants aged 13 or younger) €41.90 (applicants aged 14 or older) €69.30 (applicants aged 13 or younger abroad) €79.25 (applicants aged 14 or older abroad)	5 years 10 years (planned change)	Mayor's office in town of residence Ambassador's office abroad (only in countries in which the Dutch ID card is a valid travel document)	9 October 2011
Norway	No national identity card. National identity cards are planned to be introduced in 2015. The introduction will be postponed until 2016.
Poland			Compulsory for Polish citizens resident in Poland aged 18 or over and for Polish citizens resident in Poland aged 15 to 18 who are employed or who do not live with a parent/legal guardian or who are not subject to parental custody/guardianship.	Free of charge	No expiry (adults aged 65 or over) 10 years (adults aged 18–64) 5 years (children under 18)	Wójt/Mayor/President of the City	7 February 2002
Portugal					5 years		1 June 2009
Romania					No expiry (adults aged 55 or over) 10 years (adults aged 25–54) 7 years (adults aged 18–24) 4 years (minors aged 14–17)		12 May 2009
Slovakia			Compulsory for Slovak citizens aged 15 or over	Free of charge	No expiry (adults aged 60 or over) 10 years		1 July 2008
Slovenia			Compulsory for Slovenian citizens aged 18 or over who are permanently resident in Slovenia and who do not have another form of ID with photo	€12.43 (children under the age of 3) €14.25 (children aged 3–18) €18.77 (applicants aged 18 and over)	3 years (citizens under 3 years) 5 years (citizens under 18 years) 10 years (citizens over 18 years)	Administrative Unit Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs	20 June 1998
Spain			Compulsory from the age of 14		No expiry (adults over 70) 10 years (adults aged 30–70) 5 years (applicants under 30)		16 March 2006
Sweden			Optional (few have them)	SEK 400	5 years	Police	2 January 2012
United Kingdom	No identity card (UK ID Cards abolished 2011 by UK Identity Documents Act 2010)
EU member state Croatia which is obliged to join is currently negotiating their membership in the EEA and is not yet a formal part of the EEA.
Croatia			Compulsory for all citizens over the age of 16	HRK 48.50	10 years for adults 5 years for minors	The police on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.	10 June 2013
EFTA member state Switzerland is not a formal part of the EEA, but is through a series agreements a part of the area in practical sense in many areas. The Swiss identity card is usable as travel document inside the EEA and the EEA cards are usable inside Switzerland.
Switzerland			Optional	CHF 70 (adults) CHF 35 (children)	10 years (adults) 5 years (children)	Canton Municipality	2003 (planned change 2016)

Gallery of EEA national identity cards

• 
  Austrian identity card
• 
  Bulgarian identity card
• 
  Czech identity card
• 
  Croatian identity card
• 
  Estonian identity card
• 
  Finnish identity card
• 
  French identity card
• 
  German identity card
• 
  Greek identity card
• 
  Hungarian identity card
• 
  Polish identity card
• 
  Romanian identity card

See also

• Passports of the European Economic Area
• European Economic Area
• European Free Trade Association
• List of national identity card policies by country
• Schengen Area
• Passports of the European Union

External links

• National identity cards in PRADO (The Council of the European Union Public Register of Authentic Travel and Identity Documents Online)