Agreement in trilogues on European Commission’s proposal for the recognition of public documents across the EU

The Council backed the agreement reached in trilogues on the Commission’s proposal to facilitate the circulation of certain public documents, such as marriage certificates and other civil status documents. The regulation will simplify formalities, allowing citizens to save money and time. Commissioner Jourová said: “This is a step forward for EU citizens who work and live in an EU country different from their own. This will facilitate their daily lives when they move around the EU or start a family in another EU country. This agreement is a step further to support citizens who want to benefit from one of the EU’s core principles: free movement.” Another simplification will be the optional multilingual standard forms in all EU official languages. Citizens will be able to request these forms to accompany their national public documents on a number of matters such as birth, death, marriage, registered partnership and absence of a criminal record. As a result, citizens will no longer need to always translate their national documents. The adoption will be finalised in the Justice Council on 3 December, after the formal vote of the Parliament on 11 November.