ENISA eID Forum sees momentum build for EUDI

Discussion of the EU’s digital identity plans in Split, Croatia for the 11th Trust Services and eID Forum focused on the details of EUDI Wallet implementation on Day 1. Organized by ENISA, the forum sees a wide range of experts take the stage, while talks are held officially or on the sidelines as Europe pushes forward its ambitions for digital identity and credentials.

This year’s discussions focus on several key areas: the advancement of standardization and certification for the European Digital Identity Wallet; the interplay between eIDASv2 and other legislative frameworks, including the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), EU Chips Act, and NIS2 Directive (NISD2), with particular emphasis on privacy considerations.

The implementation of both newly introduced and previously defined Trust Services from technical and organizational standpoints are also on the cards, as is the emergence of new collaboration needs among Trust Service providers and digital identity stakeholders; and the development of strategies to stimulate growth and adoption within the digital identity market.

Vicente Andreu Navarro, a policy officer at the European Commission, gave an overview of the Implementing Acts. How exactly European digital identity regulation is implemented is of great interest to digital ID advocates the world over. Adopted Implementing Acts, such as for validation services, qualified electronic seals and signatures, qualified timestamps, e-delivery services and so on, are publishing very soon if not already published.

Considering the importance of seamless onboarding procedures, as Navarro addressed the audience, the standards and requirements laid down are intended to provide wallet providers with the necessary framework to conduct user onboarding through remote identity proofing procedures.

Next came Apostolos Apladas, Head of International Trust and Identity Services, DG DIGIT, who spoke on the importance of trust, which is considered the cornerstone of a “thriving digital society.” Apladas elaborated on DIGIT’s central role in translating the policy vision into technical, interoperable solutions and operational reality. There was an overview of European Trust Services Infrastructure, the foundation of all the daily transactions the wallet enables, and the roadmap to achieve technical and operational interoperability. DIGIT is collaborating with the private market alongside EU member states.

Interestingly, there was a global view as the DIGIT head highlighted the company’s efforts to drop the digital barriers between the EU and “Third Countries” like India, Japan, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Egypt, Uruguay, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama and other Central American countries. A pilot has been concluded with Ukraine, while one is about to conclude with Egypt.

Ulrich Latzenhofer, of ENISA ECATS, expanded on the role of supervisors as they balance diversity and harmonization in European trust services. The narrow sense is to ensure trust service providers meet legal requirements, while in a broader sense supervisors can be enablers as cross border recognition of qualified TSPs may not occur without harmonized supervision.

Supervision is the silent backbone of digital trust is the contention, as, if supervision fails, trust is lost. While the achievements of eIDAS 2 are great in bridging electronic identification and trust services through the EUDI Wallet, challenges remain.

These challenges include national requirements for verification of identity being no longer relevant, while supervision of new types of qualified trust services are still in development, such as electronic attestation of attributes. Long term, there’s the transition to post-quantum cryptography.

All this and more will be addressed in Zagreb as the scale, diversity and reach of the European Union’s project for digital identity becomes ever more apparent. With 15 months to go until the December 2026 deadline for offering a digital ID wallet to all EU citizens, regulatory shifts are driving market innovation and great collaborations that’ll translate to more seamless travel.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  e-ID  |  ENISA  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  standards