Recital 53

It is for the issuing authority to assess, at the time of issuing the European Production Order to obtain traffic data, except for data requested for the sole purpose of identifying the user as defined in this Regulation, or to obtain content data, and on the basis of the material before it, whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person whose data are requested resides in the issuing State. In that regard, various objective circumstances that could indicate that the person concerned has established the habitual centre of their interests in a particular Member State or has the intention to do so, can be of relevance. It follows from the need for uniform application of Union law and from the principle of equality that the notion of ‘residence’ in this particular context should be given uniform interpretation throughout the Union. Reasonable grounds to believe that a person resides in an issuing State could exist, in particular, where a person is registered as a resident in an issuing State, as indicated by holding an identity card or a residence permit or by being registered in an official residence register. In the absence of registration in the issuing State, residence could be indicated by the fact that a person has manifested the intention to settle in that Member State or has acquired, following a stable period of presence in that Member State, certain connections with that State which are of a similar degree as those resulting from establishing a formal residence in that Member State. In order to determine whether, in a specific situation, there are sufficient connections between the person concerned and the issuing State that give rise to reasonable grounds to believe that the person concerned resides in that State, various objective factors characterising the situation of that person could be taken into account, which include, in particular, the length, nature and conditions of the person’s presence in the issuing State or the family ties or economic connections which that person has with that Member State. A registered vehicle, a bank account, the fact that the person’s stay in the issuing State has been uninterrupted or other objective factors could be of relevance for determining that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person concerned resides in the issuing State. A short visit, a holiday stay, including in a holiday home, or a similar stay in the issuing State without any further substantial link is not enough to establish a residence in that Member State. In cases where, at the time of issuing the European Production Order to obtain traffic data, except for data requested for the sole purpose of identifying the user as defined in this Regulation, or to obtain content data, the issuing authority does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the person whose data are requested resides in the issuing State, the issuing authority should notify the enforcing authority.