EU inches closer towards a digital identity wallet for Europeans

The European Commission has published a set of specifications that future developers of the software will have to consider

The idea of a European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet has moved one step closer to realization after on 10 February the European Commission published a toolbox indicating the common standards and requirements that developers will have to take into account.

The EUDI Wallet will be developed by Member States in collaboration with the Commission in order to have one common, interoperable and standardized solution for all EU citizens. The digital wallet would be in the form of an app, which allows citizens and companies to identify themselves in a secure and practical way when necessary to access digital services. It offers the possibility of saving and using data safely for all types of services, as well as storing credentials such as driving licenses, qualifications, etc.

Progressing towards electronic European citizenship, step by step

The requirements and specifications established in the toolkit to implement the EUDI Wallet will not be mandatory for EU countries until the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposal on the European digital identity wallet.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is supporting large-scale pilot projects under the Digital Europe program with up to 50 million euros in co-financing to address priority use cases for the EUDI Wallet, including mobile driving licence, telemedicine, payments, titles and professional qualifications. Pilots are expected to start in the first half of 2023.

The European Digital Identity Wallet was prefigured for the first time in the proposed revision of eIDAS, the EU regulation for electronic identification, published in June 2021.

Digitalizing services and all walks of life has been a progressive trend since then. However, the main concern that remains and needs to be fully addressed is unbreachable security, given that all essential data of a person will be accessible through their phone, a device which can be lost or stolen.