Digital identities are a key component of the digital transformation of government, business, and society. In the European context in particular, the so-called EUDI Wallet<\/a> (European Digital Identity Wallet) is becoming increasingly important. It is designed to enable citizens to manage and use their identity and official documents digitally, securely, and in a user-friendly manner.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Under the revised eIDAS Regulation (eIDAS 2.0<\/a>), the EU requires all 27 member states to make this digital wallet available to their citizens by the end of 2026. In Germany, it is scheduled to be available on January 2, 2027. An official test environment has been running since the beginning of 2026. Westernacher Solutions is testing use cases under real-world conditions. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Essentially, the EUDI Wallet stores two types of digital credentials. The first is personal identification data (PID). This data represents a digital ID at the highest eIDAS assurance level (\u201chigh\u201d) and is comparable to today\u2019s national ID card. <\/p>\n In addition to the PID, so-called Electronic Attribute Attestations (EAA) can be stored in the wallet\u2014digital certificates that are available either as simple EAAs or as qualified ones, in which case they are called Qualified Electronic Attribute Attestations (QEAA). The difference is legally significant: While a simple EAA represents, for example, a club membership or a loyalty card, the QEAA is additionally signed with a qualified electronic signature by a qualified Trust Service Provider (qTSP) subject to strict technical regulations. <\/p>\n<\/div> In addition to the electronic attributes already mentioned\u2014which are referred to individually or collectively as \u201ccredentials\u201d\u2014there will be so-called Public QEAAs: qualified electronic attribute certificates issued by government agencies. These include documents such as driver\u2019s licenses, police clearance certificates, residence certificates, or disability cards. One of the selected pilot projects involves the issuance of a digital caregiver ID in the EUDI Wallet (Federal Government and North Rhine-Westphalia). An overview of the 16 pilot projects<\/a> currently underway can be found on the website of FITKO<\/a>, a subsidiary organization of the IT Planning Council<\/a>. These include additional projects in the areas of parental leave applications, building permits and preliminary building approvals, school certificates, and tax administration. <\/p>\n The special status of Public QEAAs stems from two factors: First, they are also qualified electronic signatures. At the same time, they are issued by authentic sources\u2014primarily government registries\u2014which further ensures their trustworthiness within the wallet ecosystem. <\/p>\n For the administration, this entails a dual role: it acts both as an issuer of Public QEAAs and as a relying party that accepts wallet certificates issued by others. In early 2026, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI<\/a>) published a set of guidelines<\/a> that provides authorities in both roles with specific instructions on how to establish a secure connection to the EUDI ecosystem. <\/p>\n<\/div> How do government-issued documents from the registries end up in the user’s wallet? In this scenario, a government agency sends the notices it has generated to the central citizen mailbox. From there, citizens can transfer them to their wallet, for example, using a QR code or a deep link. <\/p>\n In the background, a central authority signs the notices with a qualified electronic signature, and an EUDI wallet adapter converts the documents into a standardized format that allows the required documentation to be imported into the wallet. This solution is expected to be implemented by mid-2026 but is considered a transitional scenario. It requires an export function in the central citizen mailbox as well as the available adapter. <\/p>\n<\/div> The long-term goal is direct integration: government registries will make data available directly through NOOTS<\/a> (National Once Only Technical System). It forms the basis for linking public registers, so that, on the one hand, data need only be provided once (in accordance with the \u201conce-only\u201d principle) by citizens or organizations, and, on the other hand, this data can also be exchanged between various government agencies. <\/p>\n Users identify themselves using their personal identification data (PID) and can then download the documents directly from the registries into their wallet. A central public authority communicates with NOOTS via a standardized interface, has the document electronically signed by a certification authority, and transfers it to the wallet. <\/p>\n This will require that the relevant registries be connected to NOOTS by the end of 2026 as part of the ongoing registry modernization effort. This model enables a particularly efficient and scalable provision of digital records and is currently the preferred approach at the federal level. <\/p>\n<\/div> Another option is for individual government agencies to act as issuers of digital certificates themselves, provided they comply with eIDAS standards. This decentralized model is being tested in the Dresden pilot project<\/a>, for example with the Dresden Pass and the Saxon Volunteer Card. This model allows for flexible implementation but places higher technical demands on individual agencies regarding interoperability and the qualified electronic signature of the credential. <\/p>\n<\/div> Not all forms of identification are equally suitable for quick integration into the wallet. It makes sense to prioritize them step by step based on the following criteria: <\/p>\n The official launch date for the German government\u2019s EUDI Wallet is January 2, 2027. The first version will be released as a free smartphone app and will initially include the PID function\u2014that is, the digital ID. Additional forms of identification and use cases are expected to follow gradually. <\/p>\n The European Commission\u2019s goal is for four-fifths of all EU citizens to be using the Wallet by 2030. Integration with government services is crucial to achieving this goal: The EUDI Wallet will only realize its full potential if citizens can load not only their personal information but also government-issued documents directly into the Wallet and use them for both private and public services. <\/p>\n Given the now tight timeline, after all, the project is set to launch in six months, not only the process of naming the German EUDI wallet but also, in particular, the national legal framework to be established by the Digital Identities Act (DIdG<\/a>) must be pushed forward at full speed.<\/p>\n Westernacher Solutions, along with approximately 120 other companies, is a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on the successful rollout of the EUDI Wallet<\/a>, which was published by the digital industry association Bitkom<\/a> in collaboration with the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Person Identification Data (PID)<\/strong> refers to the government-issued digital core identity within the EUDI Wallet. It includes basic identity data (e.g., name, date of birth, nationality) and serves as the basis for unique identification as well as for linking additional supporting documents. It is required that a photo be added to the wallet along with the PID to enable direct verification. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> A (Qualified) Electronic Attestation of Attributes (Q)EAA<\/strong> is a digital certification of the attributes of a person or organization.<\/p>\n They are used in the EUDI Wallet to provide verifiable information (e.g., qualifications or authorizations).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> The holder<\/strong> is the natural or legal person who uses the EUDI Wallet or the European Business Wallet (EBW), stores digital certificates in it, and controls which information is disclosed to third parties.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> An issuer<\/strong> issues digital certificates to the wallet. An issuer<\/strong> is a trusted entity, such as a government agency or a (qualified) trust service provider, which typically issues the certificate on behalf of its client.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> A verifier<\/strong> is an organization (such as a government agency or a company) that receives proof submitted by the user via the wallet and verifies its authenticity and validity in order to grant a service or access.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> A credential<\/strong> is a digital, cryptographically secured record of specific attributes or authorizations of a person or organization (e.g., identity, qualifications, or age). It is issued by a trusted issuer, stored in the holder\u2019s wallet, and can be selectively disclosed to and verified by a verifier as needed. <\/p>\n In the context of the EUDI Wallet, the term specifically refers to PIDs<\/strong> and (Q)EAAs<\/strong>as standardized forms of such digital credentials.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> The difference lies in the level of trust and regulation<\/strong>:<\/p>\n In the context of the EUDI Wallet, qTSPs in particular provide trustworthy, legally compliant proofs such as QEAAs, thereby serving as a central element of trust within the entire ecosystem.<\/div><\/div><\/div> eIDAS (\u201cElectronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services\u201d)<\/strong> is the 2014 EU regulation that establishes a uniform legal framework for electronic identification and trust services and enables the secure, cross-border use of digital identities and signatures. With the amendment in 2024 (eIDAS 2.0), the legal framework for digital identities in Europe was further defined. <\/p>\n Regulation (EU) No. 910\/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 23, 2014, on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999\/93\/EC (eIDAS Regulation<\/strong>) can be found here: https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/reg\/2014\/910\/oj<\/a><\/p>\n Regulation (EU) 2024\/1183 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 11, 2024, amending Regulation (EU) No 910\/2014 with regard to the establishment of the European framework for a digital identity (eIDAS 2.0 Regulation<\/strong>) can be found here: http:\/\/data.Europa.eu\/eli\/reg\/2024\/1183\/oj<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>The Role of the EUDI Wallet in the Digital Identity Ecosystem<\/h2><\/div>
Government-issued documents with special status<\/h2><\/div>
Ways to Access the Wallet: Three Integration Approaches<\/h2><\/div>
Currently, three different approaches are being discussed and, in some cases, have already been tested:<\/p>\n<\/div>1. Delivery via the central citizen mailbox<\/h3><\/div>
2. Direct connection via NOOTS<\/h3><\/div>
3. Government agencies as independent exhibitors<\/h3><\/div>
Prioritizing use cases<\/h2><\/div>
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Outlook: The Digital Government of the Future<\/h2><\/div>
FAQ<\/h2><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is PID?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is a (Q)EAA?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
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<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is NOOTS?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is a holder?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is the role of an issuer?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is the role of a verifier?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What is a credential?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
<\/i><\/i><\/span>What are TSP and qTSP, and what is the difference between them?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
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<\/i><\/i><\/span>What does eIDAS stand for?<\/span><\/a><\/h3><\/div>
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