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[To Eurosmart members only]
MEPs start discussing the revision of eIDAS
Today [28 October], MEPs started discussing the revision of eIDAS within the Committee for Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).
IMCO is Associated Committee for opinion, meaning that the ITRE Committee (lead) and IMCO Committee will closely cooperate for this file.
It appears from the discussions that MEPs coming from a country where a mobile identity solution is in place want to bring to the table their national solution. Thus, MEP Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia), rapporteur for opinion, noted that some stakeholders advocate for a solution relying on a secure element and recommend discarding software-based solutions. However, Estonia -and Latvia- have software-based solutions that are widely popular. Estonia uses a split-key solution, which is European and does not depend on a mobile phone producer. Andrus Ansip believes that it will be difficult to reach an agreement because of these diverging views. Similarly, MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere (EPP, Belgium) explained that Belgium has well-established digital identity solutions. He would like to bring them to the table.
Norbert Sagstetter, Head of Unit at the European Commission (DG CNECT), explained the proposal. He observed that the context had changed a lot since the adoption of the first version of eIDAS. Nowadays, the private sector depends much more on secure identity, for instance, the bank sector with video onboarding. The objective is for a citizen to be able to ask for a new credit card in two clicks. Citizens also want their data to be better protected when they identify themselves online. The European Digital Identity Wallet is conceived as the Wallets that we see today, for instance, the Apple wallet, but with the highest level of security. Security is the added value of this proposal. A platform will allow us to identify, authenticate, and share attributes and credentials, like a driving licence, health certificate, ePrescription and a travel certificate. In the future, the Digital euro will likely be integrated too. The European Commission is having discussions with the European Central Bank. Norbert Sagstetter can also imagine transport passes, fitness club membership in this Wallet.
The European Commission has an ambitious timeline. The Member States should come up with a draft technical framework for the Wallet by September 2022. Speed is an essential element because commercial wallets are being deployed. The public sector needs to offer a solution as early as possible.
MEP Andrus Ansip underlined that when citizens use Google, Apple or Facebook sign-on, they push more information to these global service providers. People want to have their own identification tool that they can use to buy real estate and sell real estate.
MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere stressed the need to have a solution as simple as possible; this is the first pillar. The second pillar is security: the standards in respect to cybersecurity should be as high as possible.
MEP Adriana Maldonado Lopez (S&D, Spain) underlined that a balance must be reached between security, accessibility and availability. Digital inclusivity is important.
The Greens support the overall proposal. They stress that data must be stored in a decentralised way, typically on the mobile phone. The Greens oppose the unique and persistent identifier that they do not see as needed for user identification. In addition, citizens should be able to identify themselves with pseudonyms, especially the most vulnerable groups. The Greens also believe that citizens should be able to choose their providers and change providers if they wish to do so.
On security, Norbert Sagstetter explained that the European Commission is working on certification for the Wallet. The Head of Unit is quite confident that several solutions in the EU satisfy the security requirements. Service providers that want to interact with the Wallet will have to register. This gives the assurance that there is someone liable.
The European Commission will work on interoperability. Interoperability was supported by the CEF funding programme, now replaced by the Digital Europe Programme. Member States are moving towards a system based on common standards, which will significantly facilitate interoperability.
For accessibility, the system will not only be mobile-based but also reflected on PC.
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