Align digital ID laws and infrastructure for cross-border interoperability: EU4Digital

Countries in the European Union’s Eastern Partnership region can improve their readiness for cross-border mutual recognition of digital IDs with legislation at the national level, building on the existing eIDAS Node infrastructure and integrating digital services with eIDAS Nodes. These are among the recommendations stemming from a cross-border digital identity pilot, which are summarized and shared by EU4Digital.

The recommendations are drawn from the 25-page “Cross-border eID Pilot report,” which collects findings from the cross-border eID pilot held between March 2023 and November 2024. The successful pilot tested digital ID interoperability between Armenia, Georgia and Moldova.

EU4Digital also recommends countries in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region cooperate with EU member states to implement and test best practices for user authentication and Level of Assurance peer reviews. The EaP also includes Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

The pilot used the eIDAS Node infrastructure to test foreign digital services using an Armenian national digital ID card, and authentication and access to Armenia’s eRequest portal by Moldovans and Georgians. The Georgian team connected to Armenian and Moldovan public services using Georgian IDs, and Armenian and Moldovan teams connected to Georgia’s online residence permit service in a test environment. The interoperability of Moldova’s digital signature service for authentication to Armenian and Georgian eServices was tested, first with the country’s Mobile Signature solution and then its EVOSign service. Moldova did not have any digital services for foreigners up and running yet, but the Armenian and Georgian teams successfully connected to a test service.

Level of Assurance evaluations were completed for an Armenian MobileID solution and Georgia’s national ID.

Moldova enlisted Cybernetica’s help align its digital ID regulation with eIDAS last year.

Article Topics

border security  |  digital economy  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  e-ID  |  EU  |  EU4Digital  |  interoperability