New rules adopted by the European Parliament will make it easier and safer for those who lose their passports, have them stolen or damaged when travelling outside the EU to get temporary documents from any EU Member State’s consulate in a shorter period. These documents will be much safer and will offer protection against fraud and counterfeit.

 These rules would mean that if an Irish person travelling abroad loses their passport in a country with no Irish embassy but there is an embassy of another EU member State there then they can issue an emergency travel document.

 According to the European Parliament the new Directive will guarantee that EU citizens will not be refused when in need of a temporary travel document to get to their final destination.

It is very welcome to see such cooperation between Member States when someone loses their passport or it is stolen when they are abroad. It can be very worrying for someone when this happens and this is especially relevant now when a traveller does not have the possibility to seek help at their own national embassy.

For Irish people travelling abroad this directive will be helpful where there are no Irish embassies. Irish people are travelling to more exotic places now and this directive can help if someone does misplace their passport or it is stolen. If someone loses their passport in a country with no Irish embassy but there is an embassy of another EU member State there then they can issue an emergency travel document.

 The new temporary travelling document would be valid for a maximum of 15 days and can be used for those who lose their passports in order to travel back home. The procedure of verifying applicants’ identity and issuing an emergency travel document for them should take a maximum of four days.