New act on EU Emergency Travel Document

On 21 December, the President of the Republic approved the bill on the European Union Emergency Travel Document (EU ETD) and the related amendments to other legislation. The acts will enter into force on 8 December 2025 when uniform provisions become simultaneously applicable in all EU Member States. The current provisions will apply until the entry into force of the acts.

The new act and the related amendments to the Consular Services Act and the Passport Act incorporate into Finnish law the provisions of the Council Directive establishing an EU Emergency Travel Document.

After the entry into force of the Directive, regulation binding on Member States will better ensure that Finnish citizens are able to obtain EU ETDs from all missions of EU Member States under the same conditions within a time limit specified by the Directive.

EU ETDs are single-journey documents, allowing the bearer to return home, or, exceptionally, to another destination, in the event that they do not have access to their regular travel documents, for example because they were stolen or lost.

The first EU ETDs were issued in 1996. Finland issues EU ETDs to citizens of EU Member States in countries outside the EU when the citizens hold the nationality of an EU Member State which is not represented in the country in question. Similarly, Finnish citizens may apply for an EU Emergency Travel Document at a mission of another EU Member State if they are in a country where Finland is not represented.

• Material of the Government plenary session on 21 December (in Finnish)(Link to another website.)
• Material of the presidential session on 21 December (in Finnish)(Link to another website.)