Bulgaria publishes draft digital ID law but likely to fail on EUDI wallet deadline

Bulgaria has made its first legislative step towards creating its digital ID wallet within the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet framework.

The country has published the draft establishing a national legal framework for implementing the European Digital Identity Framework and the eIDAS regulation. The draft law was published last Tuesday and is open to public consultations.

EU regulation obliges member states to provide digital ID wallets to their citizens by 2026. Bulgaria, however, has been slow to start work on national legislation.

Currently, it is unclear whether the wallet will be available within the timeframe, according to George Dimitrov, Chairman of the Board at electronic identity provider Evrotrust. The company’s eID scheme was made Bulgaria’s official digital ID program in 2023.

According to the draft, the European country will offer free qualified electronic signatures (QES) to citizens for personal, non-professional use. The state will pay a fixed compensation to QES providers for issuing a one-year qualified certificate.

The Bulgarian version of the EUDI wallet will be governed by the Ministry of e-Government. The wallet will operate through the state’s hybrid cloud and directly connect to registers such as ESGRAON, the uniform system for civil registration and administrative services for the population.

The system governs the unique 10-digit number assigned to each Bulgarian citizen, known as EGN (edinen grazhdanski nomer).

All administrative service providers, including courts, will be required to integrate the ID wallet. Integration interfaces will be developed while the state hybrid private cloud and the exchange environment will be used to provide electronic attribute attestations, Bulgarian News Agency reports.

The regulation also predicts a national certification scheme for EUDI wallets. Conformity assessments will be carried out by accredited bodies, while the Ministry of e-Government will supervise wallet providers.

While the Bulgarian national ID wallet is unlikely to launch by the end of 2026, Evrotrust has been busy expanding outside of the country.

The company raised 6.6 million euros (US$7.5 million) last year from Vienna-based venture capital firm 3TS Capital Partners and is targeting Central and Eastern Europe and the DACH region, encompassing Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Evrotrust has previously received funding from the private equity firm Silverline Capital and the Bulgarian Development Bank’s Capital Investment Fund, which took stakes in the firm.

Article Topics

Bulgaria  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  EGN (edinen grazhdanski nomer)  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  Evrotrust  |  legislation