​More than 700,000 Romanians still have valid ID cards issued before 1997, and more than 13 million ID cards in their current format will expire by August 3, 2031, when the transition period to the new EU ID document format ends – Electronic Identity card and simple identity card, according to the project on the agenda of the government on Tuesday.

The state will endure it the cost of new electronic identity cardswhich will be issued nationally by the end of this year, a measure provided for by the draft Decree that HotNews.ro wrote about earlier this month.

The draft regulation proposes a number of major changes to Decree 97/2005 regarding the registration, domicile, residency and identity documents of Romanian citizens.

• SEE DRAFT ORDINANCE AND FUND

The cost is 67 leiwhich are currently requested for their release in the Cluj pilot project will be covered by the state, given that we have €200 million in the PNRR for this project.

The draft order provides for:

• (1) The variable cost of an electronic identity card issued to persons over the age of 14 is provided at the expense of funds allocated for these purposes from the state budget, or at the expense of non-refundable external funds through an estimate for DGEP approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. , on the terms and within the limits established by the Government’s decision.
• (2) The decision provided for in para. (1) a mechanism for ensuring the counter value of an electronic identity card is also established.”

Which identity documents are valid and in circulation

The explanatory note states that the following categories of identity documents issued to Romanian citizens during the validity period are currently in circulation:

• 1. Identity card of the model of 1997 – 17430345
• 2. Identity cards (issued before 1997) – 701,079 pcs.
• 3. Temporary identity cards – 45,298 pcs
• 4. Electronic identity cards (Cluj county) – 7045

More than 13 million old ID cards will expire by August 2031

13,536,314 identity cards currently in circulation expire by August 3, 2031the end date of the period of transition to the new format of identity documents, established in accordance with the provisions of EU Regulation 2019/1157 Electronic identification book and Book of simple identification.

In accordance with the EU Regulation, it was established the need to include some security elements to verify the authenticity of the document and establish the person’s identity, therefore it was decided to integrate biometric data into the identity card.

• “Under these conditions, an ID card of the 1997 model, ID 2 format, which is currently issued in the country in the absence of a high-security medium containing facial image and two fingerprints in compatible digital formats, as established by EU Regulation 2019/1157, is unlikely to meet the standards applied in this matter, as the new format needs to be implemented at the national level,” the explanatory note reads.

The draft order also stipulates that the nationwide issuance of electronic identity cards, starting this summer, will come with a new tool: the citizen’s electronic card – a digital space managed by the Ministry of Interior, which will store the scanned documents presented, in the original by the citizen, the face image and the signature. so as not to present them later.

Read more:

• The cost of issuing new ballots with a chip will be borne by the state / Issuance at the national level – until the end of the year / Place of birth and residence will be entered exclusively on the chip
• EXCLUSIVE Citizen’s electronic card: a science fiction scenario of the Ministry of Interior when issuing ID cards