EU to test digital ID wallet via four pan-European pilots
The European Commission is investing €46 million from the Digital Europe Programme into piloting and enhancing the European digital identity (EUDI) wallet. The EUDI wallet will revolutionise how citizens and businesses can digitally identify themselves when accessing public and private services throughout Europe, using their smartphones in a secure and convenient manner. It will allow citizens to control their personal data stored within the wallet. The wallet will also be equipped with mechanisms to minimise the data shared for accessing services.
This investment is supporting 4 pan-European pilot projects that will develop and test the usage of the EUDI wallet for individuals and businesses around a diverse range of everyday use cases. These use cases cover both public and private services with national and cross-border interactions.
Everyday scenarios include: EU digital ID wallet
- providing identification to online and offline public and private services;
- displaying your mobile driving licence;
- authorising payments;
- signing documents electronically;
- presenting medical prescriptions.
For instance, the EUDI wallet will make it easier for EU citizens to travel and move to a new country. It will include digital travel credentials and will simplify the processes of opening a bank account, registering for a SIM card, proving educational and professional qualifications, and claiming social benefits through the European Health Insurance Card.
The large-scale pilot projects invested in by the European Commission will help Member States and other stakeholders prepare for the entry into force of the European Digital Identity Regulation, currently under negotiation.
To help reach the Digital Decade Policy Programme target for everybody living in the EU to have access to a secure and user-friendly eID by 2030, Member States will provide each and every EU citizen with access to a EUDI wallet on a mobile phone or another digital device.
The legislation will ensure that such digital wallets already underway in several Member States, such as Poland and Finland, are based on harmonised standards across the Union and can be used by citizens seamlessly across borders.
Citizens will always have full control of the data they share, and the use of the wallet will be completely voluntary.
The Scope of the Pilot Projects
The 4 pilot projects involve more than 250 private and public organisations across almost every Member State, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine, and will run for at least 2 years. They represent a combined investment of over €90 million in the EU digital identity ecosystem, co-financed by the Commission at 50%.
They will work on 11 priority use cases to improve citizens’ access to highly trusted and secure electronic identity means. The pilot projects will test the whole eco-system, from issuing the wallet to the user, to incorporating personal identity information, adding additional documents, and presenting this information to service providers. For example, to a public service, a pharmacy, or a hotel the user wants to access.
The 4 pilot projects will work closely with each other and with the Commission. Their results will feed into the ongoing development of technical specifications for the EUDI wallet by the eIDAS expert group.
To support the pilot projects and continuously enhance the EUDI wallet technical specifications, the European Commission is developing an open-source prototype of the EUDI wallet. This will provide valuable real-world insights and solutions for both Member States and the large-scale pilot projects to use either in full or in parts.
The 4 Pilot Projects EU digital ID wallet
POTENTIAL – Pilots for European Digital Identity Wallet Consortium
This project is coordinated by Germany and France with the involvement of 17 Member States and Ukraine. It involves over 50 public administrations and over 80 private entities. The project will apply the EUDI wallet to 6 use-cases
- Access to government services
- Opening of a bank account
- Registration for a SIM card
- Mobile driving licence
- eSignatures
- ePrescriptions
EWC – EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium
This project is coordinated by Sweden with the involvement of 18 Member States and Ukraine. It involves over 15 public administrations and over 40 private entities. The project will test 3 use-cases
- The storage and display of digital travel credentials
- The organisation of digital wallets
- The organisation of payments
NOBID – Nordic-Baltic eID Wallet Consortium
This project is coordinated by Norway with the involvement of 8 Member States and EEA countries. It involves over 5 public administrations and over 15 private entities.
The project will focus on a single use case: the use of the EUDI wallet for the authorisation of payments for products and services by the wallet user. It will address the issuance of wallets, the provision of payment means by financial institutions, and the acceptance of payment in a retail context.
DC4EU – Digital Credentials for Europe Consortium
This project is co-ordinated by Spain with the involvement of 23 Member States and Ukraine. It involves over 35 public administrations and over 40 private entities.
The project will test the use of the EUDI wallet in the educational sector and the social security domain. The pilot project will align with the European Social Security Pass and the European Learning Model. It will use the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) in the context of the EUDI wallet.
Background
The Commission proposed a law on a trusted and secure digital identity for all Europeans on 3 June 2021. It also called on Member States to work on a toolbox that would address the technical aspects of the future system.
This technical work should be in full respect of the legislative discussions in the Parliament and the Council, which are taking place in parallel. It should also be in alignment with their outcome. The first version of the EUDI wallet toolbox was published on 10 February 2023.
