§ Mr. Spearingasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will set out the current position on the agreement of a common format of passport for countries of the European Economic Community and the undertaking of a commitment by Her Majesty's Government to a European passport union.
§ Mr. Humphrey AtkinsMember States have adopted a resolution on the introduction of a common format for the national passports of European Community member States. It implements the decision taken in principle by the right hon. Member for Huyton (Sir H. Wilson) and other Heads of Government at the European Council in December 1974, that the national passports of member States should have common characteristics to symbolise their partnership in the Community. The Government are not bound by any other commitment. We intend to introduce the common format passport at the same time as we adopt the International Civil Aviation Organisation's recommendations for a passport in a simplified standardised format with machine-readable capability. A considerable amount of work is needed to assess the costs and the technical problems involved, and until this has been done, it is not possible for the Government to set a date for the change in the format of United Kingdom passports.