What changed

Recital 1 a (new): (1a) The scope of the Directive (EU) 2015/637 should also be extended, beyond Union citizens, to all other persons legally entitled to the consular protection of a Member State to allow such persons to receive this protection from another Member State under the same conditions as unrepresented citizens. This category of persons may include recognised refugees, stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country, persons legally residing in a Member State and who are holders of a travel document issued by that Member State, and persons enjoying temporary protection.

Recital 2: (2) Crises resulting in requests for consular protection are increasing in frequency and scale. The COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis in Afghanistan in 2021, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the conflict in Sudan, the repatriations from Israel and Gaza, the multiplying humanitarian crises and natural and human made disasters and other similar crises have provided a context to identify gaps and reflect on how to further facilitate the exercise of the right to consular protection. The Union's capacity to respond to these ongoing multiplying crises should be reinforced, addressing any shortcoming and strengthening our preparedness, information-gathering and decision-making capacity ahead of and during crises. Drawing lessons from those experiences, and in order to simplify procedures for citizens and consular authorities, the rules and procedures of Directive (EU) 2015/637 should be clarified and streamlined so as to improve the effectiveness of the provision of consular protection to unrepresented citizens of the Union, in particular in crisis situations. Best use should be made of the available resources at Member State and Union level, both locally in third countries and at capital level.

Recital 4: (4) To improve legal certainty for consular authorities and citizens, it is appropriate to lay down more detailed criteria that aid in the assessment whether a Union citizen is to be considered as unrepresented and thus eligible to receive consular protection from the Member State whose consular authorities have been approached. Those criteria should be sufficiently pragmatic, flexible and applied in light of local circumstances, such as ease of travel or security situation in the third country concerned. In this context, accessibility and proximity and safety should remain important considerations.

Recital 5: (5) As first criterion, consular authorities should take into account the difficulty for citizens to safely reach or be reached by the embassy or consulate of their Member State of nationality within 48 hours, taking into account the nature and urgency of the assistance requested and the means, notably financial resources, available to them. While the appropriate period of time will depend on the particularities of each assistance request, the period for citizens to safely reach or be reached by the embassy or consulate of their Member State should in any case not exceed 48 hours. For example, the need for an EU Emergency Travel Document as a result of the loss of travel documents should, in principle, result in the citizen being considered as unrepresented if reaching the embassy or consulate of his or her Member State of nationality would require overnight or air travel, as he or she cannot be expected to travel under such circumstances.

Recital 7: (7) The notion of absence of representation should be interpreted with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of the right to consular protection. Where, by redirecting the citizen to the embassy or consulate of his or her Member State of nationality, consular protection would likely be compromised, in particular where the urgency of the matter requires immediate action by the requested embassy or consulate, the citizen should also be considered as unrepresented. This is particularly relevant in crisis situations, where lack of timely assistance might have particularly negative impacts on the citizen. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the staff of the embassy or consulate, which may significantly affect the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations, should be taken into account as it could further exacerbate the challenges faced by citizens seeking consular assistance.

Recital 11: (11) Applications should not be transferred if consular protection would thereby be compromised, in particular if the urgency of the matter requires immediate action by the embassy or consulate of the Member State approached. That could be the case, for example, in cases of serious medical emergencies or seemingly arbitrary or politically motivated arrests. In addition, unrepresented citizens should be kept informed about any such transfers.

Recital 13: (13) When providing consular protection to unrepresented citizens, Member States should take into account an intersectional approach to the specific needs of vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors, victims of force marriage or marital captivity who should be provided with legal and psychological support, pregnant women, persons with reduced mobility, elderly people, persons with disabilities or individuals at risk of discrimination on any ground such as those referred to in Article 21 of the Charter

Recital 19: (19) In order to ensure preparedness regarding possible consular crises requiring the provision of assistance to unrepresented citizens - including natural disasters, political unrest or terrorist attacks -, local consular cooperation among Member States and Union delegations in third countries should include exchanges on matters relevant to such citizens, including their security and safety, the establishment of joint consular contingency plans and mechanisms for quick response, and the organisation of consular exercises. In this context, it can be particularly relevant for the consular authorities of unrepresented Member States to be included in such local consular cooperation when coordinating on consular crisis preparedness and response.

Recital 23: (23) Joint consular contingency plans should also take into account, where appropriate, the roles and responsibilities of Lead States, that is, Member States represented in a given third country that are in charge of coordinating and leading the assistance of unrepresented citizens during crises, to ensure the effective coordination of consular assistance. In addition, joint consular contingency plans should be evaluated annually or more frequently if there are extraordinary circumstances that require so, in the context of consular exercises to ensure their continued relevance. At the same time, joint consular contingency plans should not be understood as replacing existing national crisis plans of Member States or affecting their responsibility to provide consular assistance to their own nationals, but as a coherent approach that can additionally help to coordinate the efforts of the represented Member States.

Recital 25: (25) Travel advice, that is, information issued by Member States about the relative safety of travelling to specific third countries, should be regularly updated in order to enable travellers to make an informed decision about a particular travel destination, including third countries where their Member State of nationality is not represented. While the issuance of travel advice is the responsibility of Member States, it is appropriate that they coordinate on that topic, notably in the context of crises, with a view to ensuring consistency in the level of advice given. This could include agreeing on a common structure of the levels of risk indicated in travel advice, making use of the secure platform of the EEAS. Such coordination should take place at an early stage when Member States are planning to change the level of their travel advice.

Recital 26: (26) Efficient coordination is vital to ensure effective crisis response. To ensure such coordination, Member States have to be supported and receive timely information by the Crisis Response Centre of the EEAS and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the Commission. Coordinated Union crisis response is particularly important in cases requiring evacuations to ensure that available support is provided quickly and efficiently, and that best use is made of available evacuation capacities. For that reason, first-hand and relevant information, such as on available evacuation capacity for instance, should be shared in a timely manner to be able to react rapidly and effectively, including in case of rescue and evacuation operations using military assets. In this regard, the EEAS should be able to receive automatic and continuous information from Member States on the situation in third countries

Recital 28: (28) Joint consular teams should be based on the principles of solidarity with represented Member States, equality with regard to decisions on internal working structures, simplicity regarding composition of teams, cost-sharing – with each Member State, Union institution or body bearing its own operational costs – flexibility, visibility of the coordinated Union response and openness to relevant third countries.

Recital 30: (30) To support Union citizens in need, it is important to provide them with reliable and easily accessible information on how to avail themselves of consular assistance in third countries, including digital contact options. The Commission services and the EEAS should disseminate in close coordination with Member States relevant information, including information to be provided by Member States on their consular networks and third countries where they have concluded practical arrangements on sharing responsibilities for providing consular protection to unrepresented citizens. To facilitate the processing of such information, it should be provided in machine-readable format.

Recital 30 a (new): (30a) Member States should ensure that citizens have easy access to up-to date information regarding consular protection. In this regard, EU citizens should receive prompt notifications regarding their rights and procedures for exercising them while in third countries, particularly during crisis situations.

Recital 31: (31) Member States should take additional measures to further contribute to raising Union citizen’s awareness of their right to consular protection, also taking into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities. Given the limited costs it entails Member States should reproduce the wording of Article 23 TFEU in passports issued by Member States as a way to enhance citizens’ awareness of the right to protection by diplomatic and consular authorities, as already recommended by Commission Recommendation C(2007) 58415 . Member States should also feature information on the right to consular protection enjoyed by unrepresented citizens in travel advice and campaigns relating to consular assistance. They should also cooperate with passenger transport service providers and transport hubs offering travel to third countries, for example by inviting them to add relevant information on the right to consular protection to the information materials made available to customers.

Recital 32: (32) The financial provisions of Directive (EU) 2015/637 should be adapted to simplify reimbursements and continue ensuring financial burden-sharing. In particular, it should be possible for unrepresented citizens to directly reimburse costs, under the same conditions as nationals of the assisting Member State, for the service provided by that Member State to avoid the administrative burden resulting from seeking reimbursements from the citizen’s Member State of nationality. In addition, Member States should also be allowed to waive the charging of such costs. As, in certain situations, unrepresented citizens may not be able to pay when making the request for assistance, notably when their cash and means to access funds have been stolen, it is necessary to provide that they may be required by the consular authorities of the assisting Member State to sign an undertaking to repay. On the basis of such an undertaking, the authorities of the assisting Member State may ask for the reimbursement of the costs once three months have passed since the assistance was provided

Recital 33: (33) In cases where the costs have not been repaid by the citizen directly, that is, neither immediately when making the request or at a later stage when having been requested to do so by the assisting Member State on the basis of the undertaking to repay, the assisting Member State should be entitled to ask for the reimbursement of the costs due from the unrepresented citizen’s Member State of nationality. To avoid being faced with requests for reimbursement after long periods, the assisting Member State and Member State of nationality should be given a reasonable deadline to, respectively, make the request and reimbursement. The deadline should take into account the complexity of the problem, the involvement of the facility's staff and the duration of assistance

Recital 34 a (new): (34a) An appropriate increase of the EEAS budget and human resources should be granted, in addition to the revenue from Member States reimbursements, to guarantee the proper execution of responsibilities in providing assistance and/or protection to EU citizens.

Recital 41: (41) When processing such special categories of personal data, the competent authorities of the Member States and Union institutions and bodies should ensure suitable and specific measures to safeguard data subjects’ interests and rights. This should include, where possible, encrypting such personal data and specific attribution of access rights for personnel who have access to the specified types of special categories of personal data.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point -1 (new), Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new): (-1) in Article 4, the following subparagraph 1a is added: / ‘Recognised refugees and stateless persons and other persons who do not hold the nationality of any country, who reside in a Member State and are holders of a travel document issued by that Member State shall be entitled to consular protection under the same conditions as unrepresented citizens, if a Member State of residence is not represented by a diplomatic or consular authority.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1, Article 6 – paragraph 2 – point a: (a) the difficulty for the citizen concerned to safely reach or be reached by the embassy or consulate of his or her Member State of nationality within a reasonable period of time, taking into account the nature and urgency of the assistance requested and the means available to the citizen. While the appropriate period of time will depend on the particularities of each assistance request, the period for citizens to safely reach or be reached by the embassy or consulate of their Member State shall in any case not exceed 48 hours;

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1, Article 7 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Where Union delegations are the only representation physically located in a third country, or where there is an objective need for additional assistance to unrepresented citizens during a crisis situation due to insufficient capacity of Member States’ embassies and consulates, Union delegations shall provide consular assistance, including issuing Emergency Travel Documents following the provisions set forth by directive (EU) 2019/997.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1, Article 7 – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. When providing consular protection to unrepresented citizens, Member States shall take into account an intersectional approach to the specific needs of vulnerable groups and individuals at risk of discrimination on any ground such as those referred to in Article 21 of the Charter, namely sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.’

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2, Article 9 – paragraph 1: (2) in Article 9, the following point is added: / deleted / deleted / (fa) court proceedings in urgent cases requiring immediate attention. / deleted

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 11 – paragraph 2: 2. Union delegations shall support Member States in the provision of consular protection to unrepresented citizens in accordance with Article 5(10) of Decision 2010/427/EU. Such support may include carrying out, upon request by and on behalf of Member States, specific consular assistance tasks. The assisting Member State and the Member State of nationality shall provide without delay the Union delegation with all the relevant information in the case concerned..

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 11 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. The EEAS and Union Delegations shall be allocated the necessary financial and human resources to cover the overhead and additional horizontal administrative workload

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. In the context of local consular cooperation referred to in Article 12, Member States and the EEAS shall set up and agree a joint consular contingency plan for each third country. The joint consular contingency plan shall be updated annually, or more frequently in the event of extraordinary circumstances and contain:

Council Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) an analysis of the consular situation in the country, including an overview of Member State embassies or consulates, an estimate of the number and location of Union citizens, and a risk assessment of the most plausible scenarios affecting Union citizens; such as, but not limited to, military, political, criminal and health risks, and natural disasters;

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1: Where present, Union delegations shall coordinate the setting up and agreement of joint consular contingency plans, based on contributions made by the embassies or consulates of the Member States represented in the third country concerned and the consular authorities of unrepresented Member States. This might include, when necessary, the cooperation with third countries and international organisations. Joint consular contingency plans shall be made available to all Member States, the EEAS and the Commission services.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Member States and Union delegations shall collaborate in the deployment of Early Warning Systems to enable the timely detection of potential crises or hazards, such as natural disasters, political unrest, or health emergencies, in the third country concerned. These systems shall utilize data analytics, risk assessments, and intelligence sharing to provide early indicators of emerging threats, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of crisis preparedness and response efforts.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 4: 4. Member States shall, in accordance with national law, take proactive measures in order to ensure that their citizens register with or inform competent national authorities, by appropriate means and tools, of their travels to or residence in third countries, in particular when the thirds countries in question are not considered fully safe.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 5: 5. Member States shall exchange information on changes to their travel advice to citizens at an early stage, in particular in the context of crisis situations, and shall seek to ensure consistency in the level of travel advice given.’ Member States should always inform each-other every time they become aware of increased security risks.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 5 a (new): 5a. Member States shall enhance situational awareness with Union Delegations in third countries, including by regularly sharing risk assessments updates and possible threats to the security of EU citizens, and by exchanging information on their travel advice.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 13 – paragraph 5 b (new): 5b. The EEAS, in close cooperation with Member States, shall provide consular crisis preparedness, simulation and response training to Union officials and Member States’ diplomatic and consular staff to improve their ability to manage crisis situations and provide assistance to EU citizens abroad.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 13 a – paragraph 2: 2. Where necessary, Member States may be supported by joint consular teams composed of experts from Member States, in particular from Member States not represented in the third country affected by the crisis, the EEAS and the Commission services. Joint consular teams shall be available for rapid deployment to third countries affected by a consular crisis. Participation in joint consular teams shall be voluntary. The EEAS and the Commission shall support the preparedness of those experts and of the joint consular teams

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 13 a – paragraph 4: 4. When providing assistance, Member States may be supported from Union instruments such as the crisis management structures of the EEAS and its Crisis Response Centre. Member States may also involve the Emergency Response Coordination Centre established by Article 7 of Decision No 1313/2013/EU, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. and, if appropriate, EU missions and operations under the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy and the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity as provided for in the ‘Strategic Compass for Security and Defence’.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5, Article 13 a – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. in Chapter 2, the following Article 13ad is inserted: ‘Article 13ad Special protection of children Member States, with the support of the Union delegations, shall take special measures to ensure the right to consular protection of children, who are EU citizens, in third countries, particularly when there is a risk of infringement of their rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. When providing consular assistance to children, Member States shall have the child’s best interest as their primary consideration.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 b – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part: Once every six months Member States shall provide the EEAS and the Commission with the following information:

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 b – paragraph 2: 2. Member States, the Commission services and the EEAS shall make the information referred to in paragraph 1publicly available in a manner that ensures the coherence of the information provided.

After the European Parliament delivered its position by a vote in Plenary on 24 April 2024, the Council, at the beginning of 2026, brought substantial modifications to the Commission’s legislative proposal. This report seeks to conclude this reconsultation procedure.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

With this report, the Rapporteur recalls that the right, granted under Article 23 of the TFEU, of unrepresented Union citizens to receive the protection of the diplomatic or consular authorities of any Member State on the same conditions as the nationals of that State is one of the most vital elements of Union citizenship.

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 b – paragraph 3: 3. Member States shall provide the information referred to in paragraph 1 in a machine-readable format.

Noting that recent crisis situations have impacted and endangered thousands of Union citizens abroad, the Rapporteur considers the updating of the legal framework through which Member States, supported everywhere in the world by EU delegations, provide consular services and protection to unrepresented Union citizens abroad urgent.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Therefore, the report pursues the following objectives:

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 c – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Member States shall take measures to inform their citizens of their right set out in Article 20(2), point (c), TFEU in particular by:

­ facilitate the identification of such citizens through an automatic criterion: Union citizens shall be considered unrepresented if the possibility to safely reach or be reached by the embassy or consulate of their Member State of nationality is superior to 48 hours. In case of a situation that presents an immediate danger, this period will not apply, and that Union citizen will be considered unrepresented immediately;

Directive (EU) 2015/637

­ increase anticipation and preparation efforts by the relevant authorities of the Member States and Union delegations through more frequent consular exercises;

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 c – paragraph 1 – point a: deleted

­ improve the services delivered to vulnerable unrepresented Union citizens;

Directive (EU) 2015/637

­ secure the resources allocated to the EEAS and the training received by Union officials, which the Rapporteur considers necessary for the increasing Union support brought to Member States in achieving these tasks;

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 c – paragraph 1 – point c a (new): (ca) implementing digital technologies and automated notification systems, such as SMS via telephone networks, to provide EU citizens with essential contact details for consular protection upon entering a third country, as well as alert messages during crisis situations.

­ create channels of cooperation between Member States and Union delegations to improve early alert systems on evolving situations, harmonize the travel advice delivered to Union citizens and improve emergency contacting of Union citizens where the situation requires it;

Directive (EU) 2015/637

­ align the data protection mechanisms with the applicable legal framework, without endangering the capacity of the Member States’ competent authorities and Union institutions and bodies to carry out these tasks;

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6, Article 13 c – paragraph 1a (new): 1a. In addition, Member States shall reproduce the first sentence of Article 23 TFEU on national passports in a visible place.

­ create reporting obligations on the European Commission to ensure that this legal framework stays up to date with the necessities that will arise from the international context in the coming years.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 14 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1: If an unrepresented citizen is unable to pay the costs referred to in paragraph 1 to the assisting Member State when making a request for assistance, the assisting Member State may require the unrepresented citizen to sign an undertaking to repay. On that basis, the assisting Member State may ask the unrepresented citizen concerned to pay such costs once three months have passed since the assistance was provided. Being unable to pay the costs referred to in paragraph 1 when making a request for assistance shall not affect the right of the unrepresented citizen to receive consular protection.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7, Article 14 – paragraph 6: 6. The Commission may adopt implementing acts establishing standard forms, available in all Member State languages, to be used for the undertaking to repay referred to in paragraph 2 and for the repayment of the costs from the Member State of nationality referred to in paragraph 3. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15a(2).

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 a – paragraph 1 – point f a (new): (fa) ensure compliance with the provisions of Article 13(4) regarding the registration and notification of citizens' travels to or residence in third countries.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 a – paragraph 1 – point f b (new): (fb) provide the information and warnings referred to in Article 13c(1), point (-a);

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 a – paragraph 1 – point f c (new): (fc) process information and registrations of travels or residence provided in accordance with Article 13(4).

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 a – paragraph 6: 6. When processing the personal data referred to in paragraph 5, the competent authorities of the Member States and Union institutions and bodies shall ensure suitable and specific measures to safeguard data subjects’ interests and rights. They shall also introduce internal policies and undertake necessary technical and organisational measures to prevent unauthorised access and transmission of such personal data.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 a – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1: For the purposes of this Directive, the competent authorities of the Member States shall transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation only to carry out the tasks referred to in Article 9, Article 10 and Article 13a and in accordance with Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Personal data referred to in paragraph 5 shall be excluded from such transfer, unless the explicit prior consent of the Union citizen concerned has been obtained.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 9, Article 16 b – paragraph 1: Member States shall ensure that unrepresented citizens have an effective access to complaint mechanisms and remedies under national law in the event of a breach of their rights under this Directive.

Directive (EU) 2015/637

Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 10, Article 19 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1: ‘No later than [five years after the transposition deadline of the amending Directive], the Commission shall carry out an evaluation of this Directive and present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and the Council.