European legislators are moving forward with the introduction of the digital wallet across the European Union, having held a plenary vote to move the initiative to interagency negotiations.
The European Parliament voted on March 15 to agree on a mandate to negotiate with EU member states to revise the new European Digital Identity (eID) framework, according to an official announcement. According to the results of the plenary voting, 418 people voted for the initiative, 103 voted against, 24 deputies abstained.
According to lawmakers, after approval at the plenary session, the EU Council is ready to immediately start discussing the final form of the law. Parliament’s position during the negotiations will be based on the amendments adopted in February by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), the report says.
As previously reported, ITRE has included a zero-knowledge proof standard in its amendments to eID, intending to allow EU citizens full control over their identity.
“The scheme will allow citizens to identify and authenticate themselves online – through a European digital identity wallet – without having to resort to commercial providers, as is the case today – a practice that raises trust, security and privacy issues,” the European Parliament said.
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Submitted in June 2021, the legislative proposal for eID aims to create a “European digital identity” and a dedicated digital wallet for citizens and businesses in the EU. The “European Digital Identity Wallet”, also known as EDIW, aims to allow people and companies in the EU to store identification data such as name and address, as well as digitized documents including bank account details, birth certificates, diplomas and other documents for cross-border use. .
