On 3 June 2021 the European Commission presented the proposal for a regulation on the EU digital ID and the review of the eIDAS regulation. The proposal seeks to promote the use of digital identity and among other things comprises introduction of the ID wallet which citizens can use to identify themselves digitally as well as store and manage their identity data and official documents in electronic form.
Bitkom assessment: The proposal to establish the EU ID and wallet is an important step. Our objectives are a high level of acceptance, market openness, European harmonisation as well as Europe-wide application possibilities. The details of the proposal leave some questions open and need to be revisited, in particular with regard to the following points:
Technical details, standardisation and interactions with other regulatory provisions: Technical details of the design of the wallet and the standards on which it is based have not yet been definitively clarified and need to be developed in joint consultation with industry. In addition, it is absolutely essential to ensure coherence in the regulatory framework.
Successful implementation in the market: In our view, the EU should strive to enable multiple certified wallets to coexist in the market in order to have successful competition with the best possible solutions and successful implementation of the wallet. The EU should lay down harmonised, realistic and workable certification requirements.
Incentives for use without blanket compulsion: We are convinced that the EU should encourage the Member States to offer digital solutions which are sufficiently attractive and convincing for users to take them up. A blanket obligation with no differentiation imposes unnecessary efforts, a high degree of uncertainty and costs on companies in the private sector
