European Digital Identity (EUid)

Latest Developments

17 June 2021 – the European Commission presented the legislative proposal to Parliament's lead Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) committee. MEPs welcomed the proposal while raising some concerns on the digital divide and inclusion for those citizens less digitally literate and the need to guarantee security and data protection in the solutions.

July 2022 – ITRE committee introduced further amendments to its draft report, including that the digital identity wallet could be provided by qualified trust service providers established in the EU. Next step will include a vote in ITRE on its report.

6 December 2022 - the Council adopted its common position on the file. Among others, the Council considers that the wallet should be at no cost to individuals and ensured that the text is in line with other EU laws, such as the legislation on cyber security.

9 February 2023 - The ITRE committee adopted its position.

16 March 2023 – ITRE committee’s position has been confirmed in plenary. The main changes proposed in the report concern the structure of the European Digital Identity Wallet, the reinforcement of cybersecurity and privacy of the wallet, the adoption of the ‘Once only principle’ (i.e. citizens and businesses should not have to provide the same data to public authorities more than once), the use of the wording ‘cross-border user identification’ (instead of “unique identification”), the proposal to establish a European Digital Identity Framework Board (composed of national competent authorities and the Commission), the request for qualified certificates for website authentication.

21 March 2023 – European Parliament, European Council and European Commission started trialogue negotiations on the file to achieve a final consensus.

29 June 2023 - A provisional agreement was reached on some of the key elements of the European Digital Identity Wallet. According to this agreement, the wallet would remain voluntary and free of charge for individuals. Each Member State would have to notify at least one wallet as part of a national electronic identification system.

8 November 2023 – the European Commission, European Parliament and Council formally agreed on a provisional agreement on the eIDAS Regulation.

Summary

The objective of this initiative is, amongst other things, to establish a more harmonised approach to digital identification and to:

1. provide a future proof regulatory framework to support an EU-wide, simple, trusted and secure system to manage identities in the digital space, covering identification, authentication and the provision of attributes, credentials and attestations (European Digital Identity – EUid); and
2. create a universal pan-European single digital ID; and
3. extend benefits of eIDAS to the private sector

In particular, the Proposal introduces the “European Digital Identity Wallet” which should be a product and service that, amongst other things, allows users to store identity data, credentials and attributes linked to their identity, to:

1. provide them to relevant parties on request and to use them for authentication, online and offline, for a service; and
2. create qualified electronic signatures.

The Proposal aims to establish the inclusion of “electronic attributes”, such as medical certificates or professional qualifications which should have the same legal effect as lawfully issued attestations in paper form. Under the Proposal it should be made easier to ensure pan-European legal recognition of such electronic attributes in electronic form too.

In addition, the Proposal addresses qualified electronic archiving services (whose technical standards shall be specified by means of implementing acts) as well as services, including remote qualified signature creation devices and electronic ledgers; all these services shall be provided only by qualified trust service providers.

How could it be relevant for you?

The initiative is particularly relevant for trust service providers, but also to all European residents and businesses using electronic identification in connection with civil acts and commercial transactions or interacting with administrative bodies.

Next steps

The Proposal is currently under discussion in the European Parliament, European Council and European Commission.

The Proposal is accompanied by a Recommendation. The European Commission has invited Member States to establish a common toolbox to implement the European Digital Identity Wallet and to start the necessary preparatory work immediately. This toolbox should include the technical architecture, standards and guidelines for best practices and will allow a smooth entry into force of the amended eIDAS Regulation once it is approved by the European Parliament and Council. The first version of a common EU toolbox to implement the European Digital Identity Wallet was published by the Commission on 10 February 2023. Member States, in collaboration with the Commission, aim to reach an agreement on the complete toolbox necessary for implementing the European Digital Identity Framework by 2024.

• The European Parliament’s ITRE (Industry, Research, Energy) Committee will vote on the final compromise text on November 28. The plenary vote is provisionally scheduled for January 2024.
• The Council is expected to adopt the text in Q1 2024.
• The eIDAS Regulation will then be published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days thereafter in the course of Q1 2024.
• Member States will have 30 months to implement the rules once they appear in the EU Official Journal of the EU.

*Information is accurate up to 27 November 2023