Study

Implementation of the eIDAS nodes: State of play

Since the adoption of the eIDAS Regulation1 in 2014, 15 Member States have notified at least one electronic identification (eID) scheme. Such a notification entails an obligation of mutual recognition by other Member States within one year. This means that the notified eID scheme can be used in Member States where an eID means is required to access a public service.

The concrete implementation of mutual recognition is done through the eIDAS nodes. Each Member State sets up a node, i.e. an interface which communicates with other nodes to request or provide cross-border identification and authentication. A software (eIDAS-Node software) has been developed under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme and is being re-used by most of the Member States for the roll-out of their nodes.

The objective of this short study is to give an overview of the current state of play of interconnection of the eIDAS nodes across Europe. More precisely, the study aims to provide an answer to the following question: as a citizen from Member State A, in which Member States can I use my eID? It also provides additional comments on the roll-out of both national eID schemes and eIDAS nodes.

The information compiled in this study was gathered through exchanges with national contact points. It is based on the answers that could be collected, hence explaining missing information for some Member States.