Regulation (EU) 2020/493 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 March 2020 on the False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system and repealing Council Joint Action 98/700/JHA
Regulation (EU) 2020/493 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 March 2020 on the False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system and repealing Council Joint Action 98/700/JHA
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
This Regulation establishes the False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system containing information on authentic documents issued by Member States, the Union and third parties, such as third countries, territorial entities, international organisations and other entities subject to international law, and on false versions thereof.
The purpose of the FADO system is to contribute to the fight against document and identity fraud by sharing information on the security features of, and potential fraud characteristics in, authentic and false documents between the Member State authorities competent in the area of document fraud.
The purpose of the FADO system is also to contribute to the fight against document and identity fraud by sharing information with other actors, including the general public.
1. The FADO system shall contain information on travel, identity, residence and civil status documents, driving licences and vehicle licences issued by Member States or the Union, and on false versions thereof.
The FADO system may contain information on documents as referred to in the first subparagraph issued by third parties, such as third countries, territorial entities, international organisations and other entities subject to international law, and on false versions thereof.
The FADO system may contain information on other related official documents, in particular those used in support of applications for official documents, issued by Member States and, where applicable, third parties, such as third countries, territorial entities, international organisations and other entities subject to international law, and on false versions thereof.
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the following:
(a)
information, including images, on authentic documents, and specimens thereof, and their security features;
(b)
information, including images, on false documents, whether forged, counterfeit or pseudo documents, and their fraud characteristics;
(c)
summaries of forgery techniques;
(d)
summaries of the security features of authentic documents; and
(e)
statistics on detected false documents.
The FADO system may also contain handbooks, contact lists, information on valid travel documents and their recognition by Member States, recommendations on effective ways of detecting specific methods of falsification and other useful related information.
3. Member States and the Union shall transmit without delay to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (the ‘Agency’) the information on the documents referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1.
Member States may transmit to the Agency the information on the documents referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 1.
Third parties, such as third countries, territorial entities, international organisations and other entities subject to international law, may transmit to the Agency the information on the documents referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 1.
1. In the performance of its task in accordance with Article 79 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1896, the Agency shall ensure the proper and reliable functioning of the FADO system and provide support to the competent Member State authorities in the detection of false documents.
2. The Agency shall be responsible for entering in the FADO system in a timely and efficient manner the information obtained and shall guarantee the uniformity and quality of that information.
Architecture of the FADO system and access thereto
1. The architecture of the FADO system shall provide users with different levels of access to information.
2. The Commission and the Agency, to the extent necessary for the performance of their tasks, and the Member State authorities competent in the area of document fraud, such as police, border guard and other law enforcement authorities and other relevant national authorities, shall have secure access to the FADO system on a need-to-know basis.
3. The architecture of the FADO system shall provide the general public with access to specimens of authentic documents or authentic documents with pseudonymised data.
4. The following actors may obtain access to information stored in the FADO system in a limited manner:
(a)
Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, other than those referred to in paragraph 2;
(b)
third parties, such as third countries, territorial entities, international organisations and other entities subject to international law;
(c)
private entities, such as airlines and other carriers.
5. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 8 supplementing this Regulation by establishing measures granting access to information stored in the FADO system to the actors listed in paragraph 4 of this Article. The delegated acts shall set out for the actors listed in paragraph 4 of this Article the part of the FADO system to which access is to be granted and any specific procedures and conditions that may be necessary, including the requirement to conclude an agreement between the Agency and a third party or a private entity as referred to in points (b) and (c) of paragraph 4 of this Article.
6. Member States shall determine which authorities competent in the area of document fraud and other relevant national authorities are to have access to the FADO system, including the level of access with which they are to be provided, and notify the Commission and the Agency thereof.
Upon request, the Commission shall transmit the information referred to in the first subparagraph to the European Parliament.
1. The Agency shall apply Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 21 ) when processing personal data under this Regulation. The Agency shall only process personal data where such processing is necessary for the performance of its task of operating the FADO system.
As regards authentic documents, the FADO system shall only contain personal data included in the specimens of such documents or pseudonymised data.
As regards false documents, the FADO system shall only contain personal data to the extent they are necessary to describe or illustrate the fraud characteristics or the method of falsification of such documents.
2. The Agency shall ensure that technical and organisational measures, such as pseudonymisation, are in place in order to ensure that personal data are only processed to the extent strictly necessary for the purpose of operating the FADO system in line with the principle of data minimisation in a way which does not permit the identification of any natural person through the FADO system without using additional data.
1. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts in order to:
(a)
establish the technical architecture of the FADO system;
(b)
establish the technical specifications for entering and storing information in the FADO system in accordance with high standards;
(c)
establish the procedures for controlling and verifying the information contained in the FADO system;
(d)
determine the date of the effective implementation of the FADO system by the Agency.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 7(2).
2. The Commission shall adopt the implementing act referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1 after verifying that the following conditions have been met:
(a)
the implementing acts referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 have been adopted;
(b)
the Agency has notified the Commission of the successful implementation of the architecture of the FADO system;
(c)
the Agency has notified the Commission that the transmission of information from the General Secretariat of the Council to the Agency has been completed.
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the committee established by Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 ( 22 ) . That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on to the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 4(5) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 26 April 2020.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 4(5) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 4(5) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
1. Joint Action 98/700/JHA is repealed with effect from the date of the effective implementation of the FADO system by the Agency, to be determined by means of an implementing act as referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation.
2. The General Secretariat of the Council shall transfer the information contained in the FADO system as established by Joint Action 98/700/JHA to the Agency.
3. Member States shall agree to the transmission by the General Secretariat of the Council of the information in their ownership stored in the FADO system as established by Joint Action 98/700/JHA to the FADO system as established by this Regulation.
