EU Digital Identity Wallets will provide a safe, reliable, and private means of digital identification for everyone in Europe. Every Member State will provide at least one wallet to all its citizens, residents, and businesses allowing them to prove who they are, and safely store, share and sign important digital documents.
The European Union’s response to digital identification challenges
Identification is how we prove who we are; think of your ID or driver’s license. With more and more private and public services becoming digital, a safe, reliable, and privacy enhancing means of digital identification is needed for everyone in Europe.
EU Digital Identity Wallets are the European Union’s response to the challenges of digital identification. Every EU Member State will offer its own wallet app, built to the same specifications, to all citizens, residents and businesses in the next few years. Each version of the wallet will be interoperable and will work wherever you are in Europe.
Store and share a wide range of digital documents
EU Digital Identity Wallets will be able to store and share a wide range of digital documents.These can include everything from highly sensitive documents like mobile driving licences to everyday items like your gym membership card.
Your digital documents will be:
- Secure: Strong cryptographic encryption keeps your data safe
- Privacy-preserving: Private by design; only necessary information is shared.
- Cross-border: Many digital documents will be accepted wherever you are in Europe.
One European standard. Many national wallets
There will not be one single EU Digital Identity Wallet but many built to the same technical standards. Each Member State will be obligated to offer at least one wallet to citizens, residents, and businesses.
Each wallet will share:
- The same user experience and functionalities
- Interoperability across EU borders to access digital services
No matter where you are in Europe your wallet will work the same and accept the same digital documents.
EU Digital Identity Wallet Technical specifications
Uncover the technical specifications that will power the EU Digital Identity Wallet. Learn more about the toolbox, ARF, and reference implementation that will form the blueprint needed to build the wallet.
One European set of specifications. Many different wallets
Every Member State will offer at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet to its citizens, residents and businesses. To make wallets work seamlessly across borders, every Member State will rely on a common set of standards and specifications to build their wallets. These common specifications for the EU Digital Identity Wallet will be referenced in Implementing Acts (legislative texts) making them mandatory for all wallets across all EU Member States.
On June 3 2021, the European Commission adopted a recommendation for Member States to work together to create a Toolbox for the wallet, to include an Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), technical specifications and a set of common guidelines and best practices. The first version of the Toolbox was published in February 2023. In addition, the European Commission is building a set of reusable code libraries based on the ARF, known as the Wallet Reference Implementation. This will help accelerate the deployment of wallets by Member States.
The Large Scale Pilots are testing the wallet in a range of use cases; building on the specifications in the Toolbox and the Reference Implementation. The results of their work will be used to refine the Toolbox and will inform the content of the Implementing Acts that will turn the wallet’s specifications into law.
The ongoing work on the Toolbox, the Reference Implementation development and the Large Scale Pilots will reinforce each other with feedback. The end result is the technical specifications needed for the EU Digital Identity Wallet, with code tested at a large scale in a range of use cases.
The EU Digital Identity Wallet Toolbox
The first version of the Toolbox, containing a draft version of the Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), was published on 10 February 2023. It contains a high-level overview of the standards and practices needed to build the EU Digital Identity Wallet.
New versions of the Toolbox are being developed continuously through the ongoing work of the eIDAS Expert Group using feedback from the Large Scale Pilots.
The Reference Implementation
The EU Digital Identity Wallet Reference Implementation consists of code libraries and a reference application that will be made publicly available and ready to be used by Member States and stakeholders to build their own wallets.
The Reference Implementation is built by the Commission and based on the requirements defined in the Architecture and Reference Framework.
The Architecture and Reference Framework
On 22 May 2024, the European Commission published the latest version (v1.4.0) of the ARF.
Everyone is welcome to comment and give feedback on the Architecture and Reference Framework.