Prague, July 31 (CTK) – President Milos Zeman signed the new law on electronic identification setting down the rules for the use of chip identity cards according to European directives on Monday, the Presidential Office has said.
Under the law, the Interior Ministry will supervise the operation of the system and it will grant accreditations to the providers of these services.
Chip identity cards are to allow access to various civil service systems and to handle some affairs without the necessity to visit personally an office.
The Interior Ministry wants them to be mandatory. Along with proving one’s identity, they are to serve as a means of electronic identification.
The new identity cards are also to provide their holders with the electronic signature.
The identification will also be necessary for purely information services, such as the requests for a listing from civil service information systems.
Thanks to the electronic identification, the documents may be used in all the EU countries, which will be enabled by a European directive that will have to be transposed by all EU members into their laws.
The Interior Ministry says electronic identification will save time and money, provide better access and will be faster.