National eID schemes to be notified can rely on ANSSI and BSI eIDAS token specification

National eID schemes to be notified can rely on ANSSI and BSI eIDAS token specification

On 25 November 2015, version 1.0 of the technical specifications for the eID interoperability architecture was published by the European Commission, along with a sample implementation. These technical specifications will provide further details on the technical requirements laid down in the eIDAS Regulation related Implementing act on Interoperability framework, adopted in September 2015.

Eurosmart warmly welcomes this breakthrough towards the cross-border recognition of national eID schemes by 2019 and praises both the European Commission and the Member States for their continued commitment to accelerating the uptake of digital identities within the EU. Timothée Mangenot, President of Eurosmart: “This reference implementation based on the released technical specifications is of major importance for guaranteeing easier access, trust and confidence in cross-border egovernment services to EU citizens. This will ensure interoperability between Member States regardless of the technology used for their national mean of identification and authentication”.

Eurosmart also believes that the reference to the eIDAS-token based eID scheme in the technical specifications represents a great leap forward. Timothée Mangenot continued: “The European smart security industry represented by Eurosmart takes pride in its support to the development of certified and secure solutions that will facilitate cross-border electronic transactions in Europe. We are pleased that EU decision-makers are taking the utmost account of the use of certified, market-oriented products that proved their efficiency in ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of personal data”.

Whilst Member States are free to use the sample implementation provided by the European Commission, we would appreciate any incentives in order to urge national authorities to take the developed technical specifications into account when implementing their eID interoperability architecture.

The association will also keep a steady watch on the next release of the reference implementation and related technical specifications and look forward to future notifications of eID schemes by Member States.