| European Union laissez-passer | |
|---|---|
 The front cover of a European Union laissez-passer incorporatingmachine-readable andbiometric features. | |
| Type | laissez-passer |
| Issued by | EU institutions |
| First issued | 1970s |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility | EU officials |
AEuropean Unionlaissez-passer is atravel document issued to civil servants and members of theinstitutions of the European Union. It is proof of privileges and immunities the holders enjoy. The document is valid in all countries of theEuropean Union as well as in over 100 other countries. In 2006, theEuropean Commission issued or renewed 2,200 laissez-passer, and other agencies may issue the document as well.[1]
The present regulation was proposed by theEuropean Commission implementingmachine-readable laissez-passer according toICAO 9303 standard including a digitized photo of the bearer's face and fingerprints.[1] The number of data fields was reduced and the document no longer contains information on address and physical appearance.
Provisions for issuing laissez-passer were already present in the treaties establishing of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community, theEuropean Atomic Energy Community and theEuropean Economic Community and a singleEuropean Community laissez-passer was established at the beginning of the 1970s.[2] As a result of theMaastricht Treaty, the name was changed toEuropean Union laissez-passer. The initial laissez-passer was available in all four languages of the communities (French, German, Dutch and Italian), but not in English. Subsequent extensions changed the number of languages to the present 24.
The document contains 48 pages and all text is in all 24 official languages.[3]
A data page has a visual zone and amachine-readable zone. The visual zone has a photograph of the holder, data about the passport, and data about the LP holder much similar to a normal passport. The code EUE for European Union is used in fields similar toissuing country.
The first line of a machine-readable zone (which is at the bottom of the page) of the passport contains a letter to denote the type of travel document (which is "PL"), followed by the code normally used for the issuing country (but here: "EUE" for "European Union"), and the name (surname first, then given name or names) of the passport holder.
In a similar fashion tomost passports, the EU laissez-passer contains a request:
Authorities of non-EU countries are hereby requested to allow the holder to pass freely without hindrance.
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