(1) The Commission Communication of 19 February 2020 entitled ‘Shaping Europe’s Digital Future’ announces a revision of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) to improve its effectiveness, extend its benefits to the private sector and promote trusted digital identities for all Europeans.

(2) In its conclusions of 1-2 October 2020, the European Council called on the Commission to propose the development of a Union-wide framework for secure public electronic identification, including interoperable digital signatures, to provide people with control over their online identity and data as well as to enable access to public, private and cross-border digital services.

(3) The Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, established by Decision (EU) 2022/2481 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), sets the objectives and digital targets of a Union framework which, by 2030, are intended to lead to wide deployment of a trusted, voluntary, user-controlled digital identity that is recognised throughout the Union and allows every user to control their data in online interactions.

(4) The ‘European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade’ proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (6) (the ‘Declaration’), underlines everyone’s right to access digital technologies, products and services that are safe, secure, and privacy-protective by design.

This includes ensuring that all people living in the Union are offered an accessible, secure and trusted digital identity that enables access to a broad range of online and offline services, protected against cybersecurity risks and cybercrime including data breaches and identity theft or manipulation. The Declaration also states that everyone has the right to the protection of their personal data. That right encompasses the control on how the data is used and with whom it is shared.

(5) Union citizens and residents in the Union should have the right to a digital identity that is under their sole control and that enables them to exercise their rights in the digital environment and to participate in the digital economy. To achieve that aim, a European digital identity framework should be established allowing Union citizens and residents in the Union to access public and private online and offline services throughout the Union.

(6) A harmonised digital identity framework should contribute to the creation of a more digitally integrated Union by reducing digital barriers between Member States and by empowering Union citizens and residents in the Union to enjoy the benefits of digitalisation, while increasing transparency and the protection of their rights.

(7) A more harmonised approach to electronic identification should reduce the risks and costs of the current fragmentation due to the use of divergent national solutions or, in some Member States, the absence of such electronic identification solutions. Such an approach should strengthen the internal market by allowing Union citizens, residents in the Union, as defined by national law, and businesses to identify themselves and to provide authentication of their identity online and offline in a safe, trustworthy, user-friendly, convenient, accessible and harmonised way, across the Union.

The European Digital Identity Wallet should provide natural and legal persons across the Union with a harmonised electronic identification means enabling authentication and the sharing of data linked to their identity. Everyone should be able to access public and private services securely, relying on an improved ecosystem for trust services and on verified proofs of identity and electronic attestations of attributes, such as academic qualifications, including university degrees, or other educational or professional entitlements.

The European Digital Identity Framework is intended to achieve a shift from the reliance on national digital identity solutions only, to the provision of electronic attestations of attributes valid and legally recognised across the Union. Providers of electronic attestations of attributes should benefit from a clear and uniform set of rules, while public administrations should be able to rely on electronic documents in a given format.

(8) Several Member States have implemented and use electronic identification means that are accepted by service providers in the Union. Additionally, investments have been made in both national and cross-border solutions on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, including the interoperability of notified electronic identification schemes pursuant to that Regulation.

In order to ensure the complementarity and fast adoption of European Digital Identity Wallets by current users of notified electronic identification means and to minimise the impact on existing service providers, European Digital Identity Wallets are expected to benefit from building on the experience gained with existing electronic identification means and from the infrastructure of notified electronic identification schemes deployed at Union and national level.

(9) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) and, where relevant, Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) apply to all personal data processing activities under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014.

The solutions under the interoperability framework provided in this Regulation also comply with those rules. Union data protection law provides for data protection principles, such as the data minimisation and purpose limitation principle and obligations, such as data protection by design and by default.

(10) To support the competitiveness of Union businesses, both online and offline service providers should be able to rely on digital identity solutions recognised across the Union, irrespective of the Member State in which those solutions are provided, thus benefiting from a harmonised Union approach to trust, security and interoperability.

Both users and service providers should be able to benefit from the same legal value provided to electronic attestations of attributes across the Union. A harmonised digital identity framework is intended to create economic value by providing easier access to goods and services and by significantly reducing operational costs linked to electronic identification and authentication procedures, for instance during the onboarding of new customers, by reducing the potential for cybercrime, such as identity theft, data theft and online fraud, thus promoting efficiency gains and the secure digital transformation of the Union’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Note: This is the final text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024, establishing the European Digital Identity Framework.