This is how EU regulation will affect Hungarian ID cards from 2021

The latest draft submitted by the Hungarian government is also a proposal for the revision and promotion of electronic systems in public administration, writes Pénzcentrum.

This Tuesday, the Hungarian government submitted a draft to amend national regulation on register systems and electronic administration. The aim of the draft is to revise and reform the existing electronic systems used to store personal data and address information, road traffic and related information, and identification documents.

A general objective of the proposal is to promote the wider use of electronic systems by clients – through the installation of kiosks, for example – and in the areas of public administration.    

“The proposed changes will have a significant impact on the citizens as well”, says the Ministry of the Interior. Registering compulsory liability insurance for vehicles, for example, will be directly linked to the car registry, so clients will not have to prove the existence of insurance separately. 

Changes in the system of personal identity cards

The draft also makes a proposal for the revision of personal identification documents, made necessary by EU regulation for all Member States to increase the security features of such documents from 2021.

The regulation, to become in effect in August 2021, sets security standards for all Member States with reference to the right to free movement, a basic principle of EU membership. These minimum requirements are necessary to ensure security across the EU, as “differences among Member States’ identification documents increase the risk of falsification and abuse”.

According to Pénzcentrum, the chip cards that have been in use in Hungary since 2016 are almost in full compliance with EU requirements, so “only minimal measures are necessary”.

Such measures include the storage of fingerprints besides facial images. This has been made mandatory on ID cards issued in the EU on or after 2 August 2021 (exceptions apply, such as for children under the age of 6 years). So far, this feature has only been optional in Hungary.

The other important change is that ID cards will have a validity period, as it will no longer be possible to issue chipless identification documents. Also, citizens above 70 may request that their documents have ten years of validity.

The EU regulation also stipulates the phasing out of personal ID cards issued before 1 January 2000: they will lose their validity as of 3 August 2026. By 3 August 2031, ID cards with no determined validity period issued after 1 January 2016 will be phased out as well, provided the person is under 70 years of age on 2 August 2021.

Source: penzcentrum.hu