IDDEEA: European Commission confirms biometric passports comply with European standards

The statement says that the European Commission, in its 2026 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognized important elements of the country's existing digital infrastructure, while also pointing to the need for its further development, legislative alignment and stronger interoperability.

It adds that, in the section on digital transformation and the media, the European Commission explicitly refers to the Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange of BiH (IDDEEA), noting that the Agency continues to issue qualified electronic signatures after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina postponed the enforcement of a decision by the Personal Data Protection Agency pending a final court ruling.

“This statement confirms that the continuity of IDDEEA's qualified electronic signature services has also been acknowledged in the European Commission's official report. Particularly significant is the fact that the European Commission reiterates its recommendation to establish a single supervisory body for electronic identification and trust services at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole. The report also notes that the establishment of a separate entity-level supervisory structure in Republika Srpska is not in line with this recommendation. This approach underscores the importance of legal certainty, uniform standards and interoperability of digital services throughout the country,” the statement says.

Another significant finding concerns biometric travel documents. The European Commission notes that the security features and application and issuance procedures for Bosnia and Herzegovina's biometric passports are fully aligned with European standards.

“This is an important confirmation of the level of security achieved by the biometric travel document system, in which IDDEEA has a key statutory and operational role. At the same time, the Commission points to the need for stronger oversight of the procurement and production of these documents, which represents one of the areas for further institutional improvement,” IDDEEA said.