[11][12][13] As an alternative to presenting a passport, EEA and Swiss citizens are entitled to use a valid national identity card as a stand-alone travel document to exercise their right of free movement in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

[9]: Article 5(4) [17][18] Additionally, EEA and Swiss citizens can enter the following countries and territories outside the EEA and Switzerland on the basis of their national identity cards alone, without the need to present a passport to the border authorities: Turkey allows citizens of Belgium, Bulgaria,[35] France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland using a national identity card for short-term visits.

Similarly, Egypt allows citizens of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal to enter using a national identity card for short-term visits.

[36][37] Anguilla, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Guernsey and Jersey allow citizens of France to enter using a national ID card.

[40][41][42] Under the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the United Kingdom has an option to cease accepting identity cards that do not comply with ICAO biometric specifications after 31 December 2025.

[49] Until 7 April 2017, border guards in the Schengen Area were only obliged to perform a 'rapid' and 'straightforward' visual check for signs of falsification and tampering, and were not obliged to use technical devices – such as document scanners, UV light and magnifiers – when EEA and Swiss citizens presented their passports or national identity cards at external border checkpoints.

[50] According to statistics published by Frontex, in 2015 the top 6 EU member states whose national identity cards were falsified and detected at external border crossing points of the Schengen Area were Italy, Spain, Belgium, Greece, France and Romania.

[54] In those EEA countries whose citizens are required by law to obtain a national identity card, only a minority have a passport, since it is not needed for travelling across much of Europe.

National identity cards are often accepted in other parts of the world for unofficial identification purposes (such as age verification in commercial establishments that serve or sell alcohol, or checking in at hotels) and sometimes for official purposes such as proof of identity and nationality to authorities (especially machine-readable cards).

This application uses a registered certificate in conjunction with public/private key pairs so these enhanced cards do not necessarily have to participate in online transactions.

[57] This can be achieved by using an EMV smartcard reader paired with a computer, or by NFC (by mobile phone or PC) for the contactless variants.

A growing number of EU countries have introduced dedicated mobile apps, linked to state registries, that replace physical identity cards.

[60] EU Regulations from April 2017 revising the Schengen Borders Code, introduced systematic checks of travel documents of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens against relevant databases when entering and leaving the Schengen Area, and states that all member states should phase out national identity cards which are not machine-readable.

However, the regulation was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice in March 2024 as it had been adopted on an incorrect legal basis, as fingerprinting of applicants for the issuance of identity cards may be an overreach of citizens' rights.

Cyprus began issuing identity cards conforming to the harmonised requirements as early as August 2020, becoming the first country to implement the new standard, followed by Malta the same month.

[70] As a result of the EEA agreement, in February 2024, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein became bound by Regulation 2019/1157 with some special provisions, including the lack of a requirement of an EU flag.

[74][75][76] Denmark, Ireland and Switzerland do not issue national identity cards compliant to the EU Regulation 2019/1157, for different reasons outlined below.

[78] However, in September 2019, Swedish authorities explicitly banned Danish municipal identity cards from being used for entry, due to their low level of security.

Nevertheless, Swiss ID cards are valid for travel across the EU and EEA due to bilateral agreements and the Schengen acquis.