Every EU Member State must offer citizens a digital identity wallet by the end of 2026 under the European Digital Identity Regulation. Brussels has set the deadline; Jacques Van Zijp, writing in a Euronews opinion article, describes the EUDI Wallet as a way to speed up the single market and drive growth. States will provide the infrastructure. But, Van Zijp says, success depends on citizens adopting the wallet and public authorities and businesses building it into services they use.
A state-backed trust layer
The wallet isn't simply a digital copy of an identity document on a smartphone, Van Zijp writes. It would let someone prove a specific fact without disclosing their full identity. For example, a person could show they're over eighteen without sharing their name, address or date of birth. He argues that this gives citizens greater control over what they disclose and reduces the personal data circulating through the economy.
The promise also has an economic side. Opening a bank account, renting a flat or signing up for a service can require people to photograph identity documents, upload proof of address, repeat information and wait for verification. Doing the same in another Member State can prove even more cumbersome, producing abandoned transactions, duplicated verification costs, slow onboarding, fraud losses and cross-border friction, Van Zijp says.
For two decades, he writes, digital services have largely rested on a supposed trade-off: more security meant more friction, while more privacy meant less convenience. A credential certified by a trusted authority could be checked instantly, either in person or remotely, without manual review. His summary is compact: “Less data disclosed. Stronger assurance. Faster transactions.”
Growth, with conditions attached
Potential credentials include verified bank account and employment information, driving licences, diplomas, electronic signatures, and confirmation that someone can act for another person or a company. For businesses, the wallet could lower costs, speed onboarding, strengthen authentication and reduce abandoned journeys, Van Zijp says. Professional credentials could simplify secure access in energy, transport, health and defense supply chains.
Portable credentials could also make it easier for citizens and businesses to operate across Member States. Exchanges anchored in European law, standards and identity infrastructure could combine interoperability with privacy, and innovation with democratic control, Van Zijp says. He presents the system as a possible model beyond Europe, too, as governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America develop digital identity systems.
Those are the advertised gains. Availability alone won't secure adoption, Van Zijp says. The wallet needs simple, reliable enrolment, including activation and obtaining credentials. Inclusion requires support, alternative channels and delegation mechanisms for people with different levels of digital confidence and access to technology. Without them, digitalisation can create new barriers.
Trust isn't a deadline
People will need ways to correct incorrect information and recover access when credentials fail or devices go missing. The ecosystem also faces a familiar standoff: businesses may hesitate to invest without enough users, while citizens may see little reason to adopt a wallet that doesn't work with services they value. Governments can help by enabling high-value public services and working with private-sector providers on everyday uses, Van Zijp says.
Van Zijp draws on work at IN Groupe supporting Wallet and credential pilots for public and private issuers across several Member States. He is Executive Vice President Europe at IN Groupe, a French state-owned company that specializes in secure identity and document systems and ranks as a global leader in secure identity and trust services. His closing line makes the political and commercial wager plain: “Europe has legislated trust. Now we must earn it. The growth will follow.”