Article 7 - Respect for private and family life
43. By Question 4, the referring court asks, in essence, whether the Annex to Regulation No 2252/2004, read in conjunction with ICAO Document 9303, Part 1, must be interpreted, in the light of Article 7 of the Charter, as meaning that, where a Member State whose law provides that a person’s name comprises his forenames and surname chooses nevertheless to include the birth name of the passport holder in Fields 06 and/or 07 of the machine readable personal data page of the passport, that Member State is required to state in the caption of those fields that the birth name is entered there.
44. In so far as the objective recalled in paragraph 41 above entails that the information in the various fields of the machine readable personal data page of a passport must be easily and effectively verifiable by the authorities of those States, the form in which the various components of the name of the holder appear must be free of any ambiguity and, therefore, of any risk of confusion.
45. Consequently, where a Member State, in a legal context such as that set out by the referring court in its questions, decides to insert the birth name of the passport holder in Fields 06 and/or 07 of the machine readable personal data page of the passport, it is required to state clearly in the captions of those fields that the birth name is entered there.
46. Furthermore, having regard to ICAO Document 9303, Part 1, Section IV, point 8.4, that caption must be drafted in the official language of that State, if necessary accompanied by a translation, in italics, into one of the languages designated in that provision.
47. Therefore, those requirements are not satisfied where, in a passport, the birth name of the holder entered there is indicated by means of an abbreviation which is, moreover, not translated into one of the languages required.
48. Such an interpretation is also supported by the requirements linked to the right of a person to protection of his identity and private life, of which respect for his name is a constituent element, as affirmed in Article 7 of the Charter (see, to that effect, judgment in Runevič-Vardyn and Wardyn, C‑391/09, EU:C:2011:291, paragraph 66).
49. In that regard, although, with a view to attaining the objectives of Regulation No 2252/2004, a State has the option of adding to the name of the passport holder, as defined in its national law on civil status, other elements, in particular the birth name, the fact remains that the way in which that option is exercised must observe that individual’s right to protection of his private life. Thus, in order for that right to be observed, the name of the holder must be clearly distinguished from those additional elements, such clarification moreover in no way preventing the objectives of Regulation No 2252/2004 from being achieved.
50. It is not disputed that, where the name of a person appears incorrectly or ambiguously in documents issued by a State in order to prove his identity, this is liable to cause serious inconvenience for that person both in his professional and in his private life in so far as it may give rise to doubts as to his real identity, the authenticity of the passport or the veracity of the information contained in it (see, to that effect, judgments in Grunkin and Paul, C‑353/06, EU:C:2008:559, paragraph 23, and Sayn-Wittgenstein, C‑208/09, EU:C:2010:806, paragraph 69).
51. Having regard to the foregoing, the answer to Question 4 is that the Annex to Regulation No 2252/2004, read in conjunction with ICAO Document 9303, Part 1, must be interpreted, in the light of Article 7 of the Charter, as meaning that, where a Member State whose law provides that a person’s name comprises his forenames and surname chooses nevertheless to include the birth name of the passport holder in Fields 06 and/or 07 of the machine readable personal data page of the passport, that State is required to state clearly in the caption of those fields that the birth name is entered there.
