Will the EUDI Wallet be ready in 2026? Experts say probably not

The European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is set to become a reality by the end of 2026 but with just 12 months remaining before the deadline, it is still unclear whether the project will be ready on time.

The Netherlands has already signaled that they are unlikely to meet the deadline, while Malta believes that the product will be available but not fully functional. Other countries, like Bulgaria, have not even begun work on a state-provided digital ID wallet.

Instead of ubiquitous availability, the EU could instead face a “staggered rollout” and “uneven readiness” of digital ID wallets, experts involved in the work told Biometric Update.​

While some countries will meet the requirement with a basic, compliant wallet, others may still be in extended pilot or phased rollout modes, says Richard Esplin, head of product at Dock Labs.​

“The 2026 deadline was always a stretch,” says Esplin “There is a growing consensus across the ecosystem that ‘availability’ will not mean the same thing everywhere.”​

According to the rules, EU member states are required to provide national digital ID apps by the end of 2026, while regulated businesses, such as banks and public services, will have to accept them for strong authentication by mid-2027.​

In Bulgaria, it is currently unclear whether the wallet will be available within the timeframe, according to George Dimitrov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at electronic identity scheme provider Evrotrust. While companies such as Evrotrust have already prepared to deliver functional EUDI Wallets, the government has not begun work because of a lack of specific national legislation.

“Differences in readiness across Member States are expected,” says Dimitrov. “Countries are starting from very different baselines.”​

While some EU countries already operate mature national eID schemes with broad adoption, others are still consolidating core identity infrastructure or attribute sources such as population, education, or business registries, he adds.​

Integrating new digital ID technology with existing systems also adds complexity, notes Irene Hernandez, CEO at Gataca. The company has tested an EUDI Wallet for universities in cooperation with the Spanish Royal Mint, the national entity responsible for the EUDI Wallet.

Wallet makers are facing a “major” technical and operational task of ensuring compatibility between Spain’s legacy identity systems, such as Cl@ve and the national eID, and the EUDI Wallet.

But national conditions are not the only reason for delays. The EU is yet to issue all of the implementing acts, technical standards, certification and assurance requirements.

“The main cause of potential delays is that standards are still evolving,” says Hernandez.​

Work is still ongoing on the Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), the basis for the reference implementation of the project, with new versions of specifications still being released. Wallet developers and governments are working against changing specifications for verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, wallet-to-verifier interactions, and cross-border trust models. This makes it difficult to finalize products, according to Dock’s Esplin.

Another source of delay is certifications: Wallets must meet very high security standards, and the certification processes themselves are complex and time-consuming. National certification schemes and accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are also not yet fully finalized, creating a structural bottleneck.

“We are building against a framework that is still being completed at the EU level, which is why we see 2027 not as a single finish line, but as the point at which wallets become available and continue to evolve,” says Dimitrov.​

Not every country is pessimistic about the 2026 deadline. Germany is one country that aims to do well on its promise and deliver a robust first version of the wallet in the next 12 months.

The country has adopted a phased rollout, creating a solid foundation, while further functionalities are expected to be added in the future, according to the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND).

“The German approach is deliberately incremental, with an initial release focused on core capabilities such as personal identification data (PID) and electronic attestations of attributes (EAA),” a SPRIND spokesperson says.

​According to projections from Signicat, by December 2026, there could be somewhere around 30 to 50 wallets across Europe, although they won’t be fully interoperable.​

“We expect much to be revealed over the course of 2026 in terms of specific roadmaps for releases and policies on engaging in the various ecosystems, both for citizens (the end-users), relying parties and service providers,” Esther Makaay, vice president of digital identity at Signicat, told Biometric Update over email.

Until then, wallet makers still have many obstacles to overcome.

Interviewees all agreed that 12 months can be enough to deliver a credible, production-ready EUDI Wallet. But the wallet must be interoperable and work cross-border, requiring constant work on standards and testing.

The EU has already completed four Large Scale Pilots (LSPs) for the wallets and has recently launched new ones – run by consortia APTITUDE and WE BUILD. Outside of the pilots, however, there is still no process to test their integration with real issuers and relying parties.

“Large-scale pilots have been essential for uncovering issues, but turning pilot results into production-grade systems takes time,” explains Dmitrov.

The wallet will also only be useful as the credentials in it and ensuring high assurance for attributes such as identity, education, or professional qualifications will require coordination across institutions. Wallet makers such as Evrotrust must work with governments to support the wallets’ launch on time, while recognizing that certain decisions and timelines ultimately sit outside their direct control, he adds.

In the end, governments may decide to leverage  private wallet providers, such as Gataca, to accelerate deployment, notes Hernandez.

“Full implementation of all use cases and broad service integration may continue into 2027 and beyond,” she says.

Article Topics

digital wallets  |  Dock  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  Europe  |  Evrotrust  |  Gataca  |  interoperability