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Writer's pictureJon Shamah

eIDAS 2 and the EU ID Wallet

Welcome to my EJ Consultants and Global Trust Foundation blog. I am going t try and keep this frequently updated. I will also add this to my Linkedin and Twitter social media posts……


So I am still a little confused. Whilst the EU Digital Wallet Large Scale Pilots are all in the process of kicking off with serious efforts, what is lacking is the societal side of eIDAS 2 (as the Wallet is a major part).



In the original eIDAS, there was a lot of effort building across the public sector and also to an extent private sector, increasing awareness and support and getting stakeholders to understand the benefits. eIDAS is of course a regulation, and became law in every EU member state. Like eIDAS 2, in the original eIDAS effort, there were Large Scale Pilots (one of which was called STORK) and these made a big difference in getting the eIDAS accepted at Member State level.


However whereas eIDAS was fundamental in bringing a level of interoperability for eID and digital signatures within the EU, this was incidental to most citizens. Comparatively, eIDAS 2 and in particular the EU ID Wallet has the potential to fundamentally change the way citizens conduct their transactions at almost all levels. Especially in B-2-C where the wallets will be able to demonstrate citizen related attributes and credentials with security and privacy.


But where is the communications to the citizens? It all seems a little to technology driven.


I have no doubt that younger generations of EU citizens will love the EU ID Wallet. If restricted to Government credentials it will be pretty marginal, but once opened to B-2-C, then usage could explode. – It need not be a single wallet, but as long as the B-2-C and the C-2-G wallets can interoperate then real benefits can be realised.


But what about the citizens that cannot benefit? Those with disabilities and those that have a profound dislike of anything digital. Lets hope that the requirement in eIDAS 2 that there should always be an alternative to the EU ID Wallet is adhered to. And what about proxies? I may have missed references to them in the recently released Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF). Please help me if I am wrong, but it could make key management etc much more complex. Without proxies, citizens will be forced to stay in the “slow lane”.


PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I HAVE MISSED IT. – IN THAT CASE……MY APOLOGIES.


In the meantime, great citizen level explanations for the EU ID Wallet can be found on the GLASS project website (https://glass-h2020.eu) The videos are: MEET ALICE! and ALICE GETS TECHNICAL! For your convenience they can be found here.



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