Glossary · EU Digital Identity EUDI Wallet (European Digital Identity Wallet (eIDAS 2.0 implementation))
The operational implementation of the digital-identity provisions of eIDAS 2.0. Every EU Member State must provide a free, voluntary digital wallet for citizens by end-2026 that holds identity attributes, qualified signatures, attestations, and credentials usable across the EU. Rollout in progress 2025-2027.
## What the EUDI Wallet actually is
The EUDI Wallet — European Digital Identity Wallet — is the operational implementation of the [eIDAS 2.0](/en/glossary/eidas-2/) regulation's digital identity provisions. Every EU Member State must provide a free, voluntary, mobile-first digital wallet for citizens, residents, and natural persons by end-2026.
The Wallet is not a single EU-wide app. Each Member State implements its own Wallet (sometimes more than one), but all conforming to common technical specifications, interoperability standards, and the unified ARF (Architecture Reference Framework). Cross-border use is mandatory by design — a German citizen using the German Wallet must be able to use it for public services in France, online banking in Spain, or age verification at a Dutch grocery store.
## What the Wallet does
The EUDI Wallet supports multiple distinct functions:
### 1. Identity verification (Person Identification Data, PID)
The Wallet contains verified identity attributes derived from a Member State's national identity system. When you authenticate to a service, you can selectively disclose specific attributes:
- Name, date of birth, nationality (for service onboarding)
- Age claim ("18+") without revealing date of birth (for age-gated services)
- Specific address attributes (for shipping)
- Specific identity attributes only (for KYC)
The selective-disclosure design is privacy-by-design: services receive only the minimum data necessary, not full identity documents.
### 2. Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES)
The Wallet can hold and apply Qualified Electronic Signatures with full eIDAS legal equivalence to handwritten signatures across the EU. This significantly expands access to QES — currently restricted to users with specific hardware tokens or qualified-trust-service-provider relationships.
### 3. Electronic Attestations of Attributes (EAA)
Third parties can issue verifiable attestations that the Wallet holds:
- **Educational credentials** (diplomas, certificates)
- **Professional credentials** (medical licences, lawyer admissions)
- **Financial credentials** (account information, creditworthiness)
- **Health credentials** (vaccination records, prescriptions)
- **Government credentials** (driver's licence, tax residency)
- **Membership and access** (gym memberships, building access)
EAAs are cryptographically signed by their issuers and verifiable without contacting the issuer again — a significant advance over current credential infrastructure.
### 4. Authentication and SSO
The Wallet enables strong authentication across services, replacing username/password patterns. This includes:
- Authentication to public services
- Authentication to banking and financial services
- Authentication to online platforms wanting strong identity assurance
- Cross-border authentication using your home Member State Wallet
## How the Wallet integrates with services
Services interact with the Wallet through standard protocols:
- **OpenID Connect for Verifiable Presentations (OID4VP)** — modern OIDC extension for presenting credentials
- **OpenID Connect for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OID4VCI)** — credential issuance flow
- **ISO/IEC 18013-5** — mobile driving licence and PID standards
- **W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model** — credential format standards
Service integration requires Trust List registration. Member States maintain Trust Lists of services authorised to request Wallet interactions; cross-Member-State Trust Lists are coordinated via the EU Trust Framework.
## The "Large-Scale Pilots" (LSPs)
Four LSPs ran 2023-2025 testing real-world Wallet integrations across multiple Member States and sectors:
- **POTENTIAL**: government services, driving licences, banking, SIM registration
- **NOBID**: banking and payments
- **DC4EU**: education and professional certification
- **EWC**: travel, large-scale events, telecoms
LSP results have shaped both the technical specifications and the rollout sequencing. Several Member States used LSP infrastructure as the basis for their production Wallets.
## Implementation status (2026)
- **Architecture Reference Framework v1.4** — current published version, basis for production implementations
- **Multiple production Wallets in deployment** — Germany, France, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Estonia, others
- **Mandatory recognition** — by Member States and large platforms ("very large online platforms" under DSA)
- **End-2026 deadline** — every Member State must offer Wallet capability
- **Mandatory issuer obligations** — extending through 2027 for specific credential types
## Why the EUDI Wallet matters
### 1. EU-wide unified identity infrastructure
For the first time, the EU has a coherent EU-wide digital identity infrastructure. Cross-border digital services that require strong identity — public services, banking, healthcare, education — can rely on a single technical framework rather than 27 fragmented national systems.
### 2. Privacy-by-design at scale
Selective disclosure is genuinely meaningful: the Wallet's design prevents service providers from collecting unnecessary identity attributes. This is materially different from passport photo uploads or full ID-document verification.
### 3. The "no Big Tech identity" position
EU citizens get a strong identity infrastructure provided by Member States, not by US Big Tech (Apple ID, Google Sign-In, Facebook Login). This is a structural sovereignty position with significant geopolitical implications.
### 4. QES becomes ubiquitous
Currently, Qualified Electronic Signatures require specific hardware or qualified-trust-service-provider relationships. Once Wallets are widespread, QES becomes available to every EU citizen for any digital signature need. This is a substantial expansion of access to legally robust digital signatures.
### 5. Verifiable credentials at scale
Electronic Attestations of Attributes are the most underestimated piece of the Wallet. Universities issuing verifiable diplomas, governments issuing verifiable certificates, professional bodies issuing verifiable credentials — all reduce fraud and friction in dozens of operational workflows.
## EUDI Wallet and tech sovereignty
The Wallet rollout has direct implications for European technology sovereignty:
### For European SaaS vendors
Services serving EU users can integrate with the EUDI Wallet for authentication and KYC. The integration replaces dependency on US identity providers (Google, Facebook, Apple Sign-In) where strong identity is required.
### For European public-sector buyers
Public services must support EUDI Wallet authentication by 2027. This drives procurement of identity-integration infrastructure from EU-aligned vendors.
### For US-headquartered platforms
"Very large online platforms" under DSA must accept EUDI Wallet authentication. Apple, Google, Meta, and others face structural obligation to integrate the European identity infrastructure into their EU services.
### For Member State digital agencies
Implementing the Wallet has been a major operational programme requiring multi-year investment. This investment is paying off as Wallet capabilities expand beyond identity into credential issuance ecosystems.
## EUDI Wallet vs Apple Wallet vs Google Wallet
| Aspect | EUDI Wallet | Apple Wallet | Google Wallet |
|--------|-------------|--------------|---------------|
| Provider | EU Member States | Apple Inc. | Google LLC |
| Jurisdiction | EU sovereignty | US | US |
| Cost | Free (state-provided) | Free (Apple ecosystem) | Free |
| Cross-Member-State use | Mandatory | N/A | N/A |
| Identity verification | ✅ EU-recognised | Limited | Limited |
| QES support | ✅ Native | ❌ | ❌ |
| Verifiable credentials | ✅ EAA standard | Partial | Partial |
| Selective disclosure | ✅ Privacy-by-design | Limited | Limited |
| Open standards | ✅ OpenID/W3C/ISO | Proprietary | Proprietary |
The EUDI Wallet is structurally different from US-private-sector wallets — it's identity infrastructure, not just credential storage.
## Practical implications
- **For European businesses**: prepare to integrate EUDI Wallet authentication and credential verification into identity workflows
- **For EU public-sector buyers**: Wallet integration is becoming a procurement category
- **For US-headquartered platforms with EU users**: integration is increasingly mandatory through DSA and sectoral regulation
- **For developers**: OpenID Connect for Verifiable Presentations is becoming the standard authentication pattern alongside conventional OAuth/OIDC flows
- **For policy watchers**: Member State Wallet rollout pace through 2026-2027 is the primary indicator of operational EU digital sovereignty
The EUDI Wallet is the most operationally consequential European digital-identity development of the 2020s. By 2030, expect "did the user authenticate with their EUDI Wallet" to be a standard question in EU digital-service compliance documentation.
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