Romania chooses German EUDI Wallet for national customization

Romania will adopt and use the German model for the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). A release from the government says the decision comes “following a rigorous assessment of EUDI Wallet solutions at various stages of implementation in other Member States, as well as the long-term development strategies of the ecosystem.”

The government holds up Germany’s wallet system as a reflection of “the European values ​​of privacy, security and data sovereignty, which Romania deeply shares.” In practical terms, it allows Romania to capitalize on technical work that has already been done, “reduces duplication of efforts and contributes to a collaborative ecosystem, based on shared innovation.”

And it saves money. “The German solution is developed in an open-source manner, which allows Romania to benefit free of charge from all the necessary resources – source code, certification schemes and technical components – which it can adapt and further develop according to national needs.” In this case, budgetary savings, European solidarity and expedited timing conveniently align.

The government says it “intends to open the market to private digital wallet providers, provided that they are certified according to the national scheme.” It offers no comment on the memorandum of understanding it signed with Mastercard in May, which had the payments giant serving as a technical service provider for Romania’s national digital identity wallet.

The technical infrastructure for Germany’s implementation of the EUDI Wallet is provided by youniqx Identity, the digital subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing Company (OSD), through a Europe-wide tender. The Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) runs a sandbox for selected German relying parties to test their ecosystem and implementation against the government wallet. SPRIND also oversaw the Funke Challenge, a 3-month prototype competition on designing EUDI Wallet prototypes for German users; winning teams included wwWallet, HEIDI, Animo Easy-PID and Lissi ID-Wallet.

Article Topics

EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  Germany  |  open source  |  Romania  |  SPRIND  |  YOUNIQX Identity AG