National identity cards in the European Economic Area and Switzerland

National identity cards are identity documents issued to citizens of most European Union and European Economic Area (EEA) member states, with the exception of Denmark and Ireland (which however issues an equivalent passport card). As a new common identity card model replaced the various formats in use from 2 August 2021, recently issued ID cards are harmonized across the EEA, while older ID cards are currently being phased out according to Regulation (EU) 2019/1157.

As of 2021, there are approximately 200 million national identity cards in use in the EU/EEA, including 53 million of the new EU-standard cards. They are compulsory in 15 EEA/EFTA countries, voluntary in 11 countries and in 5 countries they are semi-compulsory (some form of identification required). Where the card is compulsory, in some member countries it is required to be carried at all times, while in other countries the mere possession of the card is sufficient.

Citizens holding a national identity card, which states citizenship of an EEA member state or Switzerland, can use it as an identity document within their home country, and as a travel document to exercise the right of free movement in the EEA and Switzerland. However, identity cards that do not state citizenship of an EEA member state or Switzerland, including residence permits or residence cards issued to non-citizens, are not valid as travel documents within the EEA and Switzerland.

Travel document
As an alternative to presenting a passport, EEA and Swiss citizens are entitled to use a valid national identity card as a stand-alone travel document to exercise their right of free movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. National identity card ownership in most EU countries and Switzerland is much more widespread than passport ownership.

When travelling within the Nordic Passport Union, no identity documentation is legally required by Nordic citizens. When travelling within the Common Travel Area (UK and Ireland), other valid identity documentation (such as a driving licence) is often sufficient for Irish and British citizens.

At present, Denmark is the only state that does not issue identity cards that are valid as travel documents in the EEA member states and Switzerland. Strictly speaking, it is not necessary for an EEA or Swiss citizen to possess a valid national identity card or passport to enter the EEA and Switzerland. In theory, if an EEA or Swiss citizen can prove their nationality by any other means (e.g. by presenting an expired national identity card or passport, or a citizenship certificate), they must be permitted to enter the EEA and Switzerland. An EEA or Swiss citizen who is unable to demonstrate their 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 and Swiss citizens can enter the following countries and territories outside the EEA and Switzerland on the basis of their national identity cards alone, without the need to present a passport to the border authorities: Turkey allows citizens of Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland using a national identity card for short-term visits. Similarly, Egypt allows citizens of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal to enter using a national identity card for short-term visits. Tunisia allows nationals of the European Union (except Cyprus) and Switzerland to enter using a national identity card if travelling on an organized tour. Anguilla, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Guernsey and Jersey allow nationals of France to enter using a national ID card. Gambia allows nationals of Belgium to enter using a national ID card. Greenland allows Nordic citizens to use any identification document containing a photo. The United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies allows EU, EEA and Swiss citizens to use national identity cards for entry if they have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, which applies generally to EU/EFTA citizens residing in the UK before Brexit. After 2026, only ICAO compliant biometric identity cards will be acceptable for entry to the UK.

According to their local laws, Swedish and Finnish citizens cannot leave their country directly for a non-EU/EFTA country with only their ID cards.

Additional checks for some citizens
At the external border crossing points of the Schengen Area, if a traveller presents a travel document without a machine readable zone and the border guard has 'doubt about his/her identity', the traveller may be requested to undergo a more in-depth 'second line' check. In practice, this means that Greek or Italian citizens who present an old-format paper Greek or Italian identity card could be subject to additional checks and delay when entering/leaving the Schengen Area.

With effect from 7 April 2017, it is mandatory for border guards in the Schengen Area to check on a systematic basis the travel documents of all EEA and Swiss citizens crossing external borders against relevant databases. Until 7 April 2017, border guards in the Schengen Area were only obliged to perform a 'rapid' and 'straightforward' visual check for signs of falsification and tampering, and were not obliged to use technical devices – such as document scanners, UV light and magnifiers – when EEA and Swiss citizens presented their passports or national identity cards at external border checkpoints. They were not legally obliged to check the passports/national identity cards of EEA and Swiss citizens against a database of lost/stolen/invalidated travel documents (and, if they did so, they could only perform a 'rapid' and 'straightforward' database check, and could only check to see if the traveller was on a database containing persons of interest on a strictly 'non-systematic' basis where such a threat was 'genuine', 'present' and 'sufficiently serious').

According to statistics published by Frontex, in 2015 the top 6 EU member states whose national identity cards were falsified and detected at external border crossing points of the Schengen Area were Italy, Spain, Belgium, Greece, France and Romania. These countries remained the top 6 in 2016.

Identification document
There are varying rules on domestic usage of identity documents. Some countries demand the usage of the national identity card or a passport. Other countries allow usage of other documents like driver's licences.
 * Usage in own country

In eleven countries, e.g. Austria, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, national identity cards are fully voluntary and not needed by everyone, as identity documents like driving licences are accepted domestically. In these countries only a minority have a national identity card, since a majority use a passport or driving licence for identification purposess and don't need more identity documents. Similarly, the Irish Passport Card is voluntary.

However, even in those EEA countries that impose a national identity card requirement on their citizens, it is generally not required to carry the identity cards at all times.

EEA and Swiss citizens exercising their right of free movement in another EEA member state or Switzerland are entitled to use their national identity card as an identification document when dealing not just with government authorities, but also with private sector service providers. For example, where a supermarket in the Netherlands refuses to accept a German national identity card as proof of age when a German citizen attempts to purchase an age-restricted product and insists on the production of a Dutch-issued passport or driving licence or other identity document, the supermarket would, in effect, be discriminating against this individual on this basis of their nationality in the provision of a service, thereby contravening the prohibition in Art 20(2) of Directive 2006/123/EC of discriminatory treatment relating to the nationality of a service recipient in the conditions of access to a service which are made available to the public at large by a service provider. In those EEA countries whose citizens are required by law to obtain a national identity card, only a minority have a passport, since it is not needed for travelling across much of Europe.
 * Usage outside own country

National identity cards are often accepted in other parts of the world for unofficial identification purposes (such as age verification in commercial establishments that serve or sell alcohol, or checking in at hotels) and sometimes for official purposes such as proof of identity and nationality to authorities (especially machine-readable cards).
 * Usage in third countries

Electronic identity cards (eID)
As of 2024, all EU/EEA countries (except Denmark) issue national identity cards with an electronic identity (eID) function, either through incorporating an EMV (contact chip) or, most commonly, through a RFID/NFC (contactless) function. The regulation dictates that the eID functions must be logically or physically separate from the ICAO biometric function of the card.

Digital signature applications can be used which enables the bearer to authenticate themselves digitally using their identity card. Consequently they can authenticate documents to satisfy any third party that the document's not been altered after being digitally signed, as well as to identify the identity card holder. This application uses a registered certificate in conjunction with public/private key pairs so these enhanced cards do not necessarily have to participate in online transactions. This can be achieved by using an EMV smartcard reader paired with a computer, or by NFC (by mobile phone or PC) for the contactless variants.

A growing number of EU countries have introduced dedicated mobile apps, linked to state registries, that replace physical identity cards. In 2024, EU has passed regulations aimed at standardising electronic identities also through mobile wallets.

European Union standards from 2006
On 4 December 2006, all European Union member states agreed to adopt common designs and minimum security standards for national identity cards that were in the draft resolution of 15 November 2006: This included laminated paper core cards and cards made of a synthetic substrate. The standard specified minimum biographical information (including doc. no., validity, signature), machine readability and ICAO conformity.

EU Regulations from April 2017 revising the Schengen Borders Code, introduced systematic checks of travel documents of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens against relevant databases when entering and leaving the Schengen Area, and states that all member states should phase out national identity cards which are not machine-readable.

New European Union standards from 2019
In 2019, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a new regulation with a new common format of identity cards. The purpose of the regulation was to replace and harmonize the various identity card models currently in use in Europe. The regulation began to apply to the European Union (EU) on 2 August 2021 and the European Economic Area (EEA) as of 1 February 2024.

As of June 2024, all EU/EEA countries issue national ID cards which are compliant with the 2019 legislation.

However, the regulation was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice in March 2024 as it had been adopted on an incorrect legal basis, as fingerprinting of applicants for the issuance of identity cards may be an overreach of citizens' rights. It remains temporarily in force until, at the latest, 31 December 2026 so that the Council may adopt a new regulation on the correct legal basis.

According to the EU law, Member States (including EEA States, with exceptions), should issue identity cards according to Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 which states that :
 * Identity cards shall be produced in ID-1 format and shall contain a machine-readable zone (MRZ).
 * Security standards shall be based on ICAO Document 9303.
 * The document shall bear the title 'Identity card' in the official language and in at least one other official language of the institutions of the Union.
 * It shall contain the two-letter country code of the Member State issuing the card, printed in negative in a blue rectangle and encircled by 12 yellow stars (EU Flag) on the front side. (Requirement of the EU flag does not apply in Norway, Iceland and Liechenstein)
 * It shall include a highly secure storage medium which shall contain a facial image of the holder of the card and two fingerprints in interoperable digital formats. The storage medium shall have sufficient capacity and capability to guarantee the integrity, the authenticity and the confidentiality of the data. The data stored shall be accessible in contactless form and secured as provided for in Implementing Decision (European Union) C(2018) 7767.
 * Identity cards shall have a minimum period of validity of 5 years and a maximum period of validity of 10 years. But Member States may provide for a period of validity of less than 5 years for minors and more than 10 years for persons aged 70 and above.
 * Identity cards which do not meet the new requirements shall cease to be valid at their expiry or by 3 August 2031.
 * Identity cards which do not meet the minimum security standards or which do not include a functional MRZ shall cease to be valid at their expiry or by 3 August 2026.
 * Identity cards of persons aged 70 and above at 2 August 2021, which meet the minimum security standards and which have a functional MRZ shall cease to be valid at their expiry.

Article 16 states that this Regulation shall apply from 2 August 2021.

For several member countries the new requirements do not mean that the design or features of the existing cards change much, since they mostly fulfil the requirements already. For some this means a large redesign. A visible change for all countries is the country code inside the EU flag.

ICAO/EU identity cards have an identifying initial character that begins "A", "C", or "I". in the MRZ on the obverse side. All EEA identity cards have the initial identifying characters "ID" or "I<" except Italy, Ireland, Cyprus and Norway. Irish passport cards have the initial identifying characters "IP", Croatia uses "IO". However, Italy and Norway use the initial character "C" for their identity cards.

Identity cards not meeting the new requirements shall cease to be valid at their expiry or by 3 August 2031, whichever comes sooner. Identity cards which do not meet the minimum security standards or which do not include a functional machine-readable zone shall cease to be valid by 3 August 2026. Identity cards of persons aged 70 and above on 2 August 2021 which meet the minimum security standards and which have a functional MRZ shall cease to be valid at their expiry. In 2019, the EU estimated that around 80 million ID cards in circulation were not machine-readable, and will therefore expire in 2026.

Cyprus began issuing identity cards conforming to the harmonised requirements as early as August 2020, becoming the first country to implement the new standard, followed by Malta the same month. Implementation throughout the member states progressed gradually, and is now complete with Portugal and Bulgaria being the last to implement the new standards in June 2024; non-compliant cards will phase out as previously outlined.

Non-compliant identity cards
In July 2023, the European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure against Bulgaria, Greece and Portugal as they had not updated their ID cards to EU standards. Greece began issuing its updated ID card on 25 September 2023, followed by Portugal on 11 June 2024 and Bulgaria on 17 June 2024.

On the other hand, Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 does not apply to travel documents like the passport card issued by Ireland, as stated in point (14) of the introduction chapter. Irish passport cards nevertheless follow the ICAO 9303 standard and are biometrically compliant, but do not contain the EU flag, but only the words 'European Union' on the document.

Danish identity cards are issued by municipalities, each having their own design, and are not accepted as valid travel documents outside Denmark. They were launched in 2017, replacing previous 'Youth Cards'. Since 2018, information about the nationality of the cardholder has been included which briefly allowed the card to be used for travel to Sweden. However in September 2019, Swedish authorities explicitly banned Danish municipal identity cards from being used for entry. In 2021, the Danish Ministry of Interior came to the conclusion that more secure ID cards were not on the agenda due to prohibitive costs.

Finally, Switzerland is not subject to the Regulation, as it is neither an EU nor an EEA member state; Swiss ID cards do not contain biometric data.

Cards issued by other EEA states
In February 2024, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein became bound by Regulation 2019/1157 with some special provisions, including the lack of a requirement of an EU flag. Nevertheless, Norwegian identity cards have already been compliant with the Regulation since July 2021. Likewise, Liechtenstein began issuing biometric EU-standard ID cards in January 2024. Finally, Iceland began to issue new EU-standard ID cards in March 2024, the first in the world to use the new additional ICAO 9303 format with a vertical format.

Overview of national identity cards
Member states issue a variety of national identity cards with differing technical specifications and according to differing issuing procedures. In most member states, cards can be issued abroad through the country's respective consulates.