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New rules to cut red tape on citizens’ public documents

Sep 27, 2016 | News

(09 June 2016) – Today the European Parliament has adopted the regulation, proposed by the Commission, to cut costs and formalities for citizens who need to present a public document in another EU country.

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© Reuben Strayer

Currently, citizens moving to or living in another EU country must obtain a stamp to prove that their public documents (such as a birth, marriage or death certificate) are authentic.

Under the new regulation, this stamp and the bureaucratic procedures linked to it (e.g. certified copy or translation) will no longer be required when presenting public documents issued in one EU country to the authorities of another EU country.

The regulation deals only with the authenticity of public documents, so Member States will continue to apply their national rules concerning the recognition of the content and effects of a public document issued in another Union country.

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