Every EU Member State must make a digital identity wallet available to citizens by the end of 2026 under the European Digital Identity Regulation. In a Euronews opinion article, Jacques Van Zijp argues that the EUDI Wallet could reduce administrative friction for people and businesses operating across borders.
Identity Across Borders
Opening a bank account, renting a flat or signing up for a service can mean photographing an identity document, uploading proof of address and entering the same information again. Then comes the wait for verification. Van Zijp writes that repeating the process in another Member State can be even more cumbersome.
These procedures weigh on European economies through abandoned transactions, duplicated verification costs, slow onboarding, fraud losses and cross-border friction. Van Zijp presents the Wallet as a way to verify specific facts without requiring someone to disclose all the personal information on an identity document.
A citizen, for example, could prove they are over eighteen without disclosing their name, address or date of birth. Van Zijp says this could give citizens greater control over what they share and reduce the personal data circulating through the economy.
The Wallet isn't simply a digital copy of an identity document on a smartphone. It would use credentials certified by a trusted authority, which users could verify instantly, in person or remotely, without manual review. Van Zijp describes the intended balance as: “Less data disclosed. Stronger assurance. Faster transactions.”
Services, Access and Inclusion
Potential uses include verified bank account and employment information, driving licences, diplomas, electronic signatures, and confirmation that someone is authorised to act for another person or a company. In energy, transport, health and defense supply chains, trusted professional credentials could simplify secure access.
For businesses, Van Zijp says the Wallet could lower costs, accelerate onboarding, strengthen authentication and reduce abandoned journeys. Portable credentials could also make it easier for citizens and businesses to operate across Member States, removing administrative barriers to cross-border activity.
But availability alone won't ensure adoption. Van Zijp says citizens must use the Wallet, while public authorities and businesses must integrate it into services people rely on. His work at IN Groupe supporting Wallet and credential pilots for public and private issuers across several Member States points, he writes, to four conditions for adoption.
Enrolment must be simple, reliable and accessible, from activating the Wallet to obtaining credentials. Inclusion also requires support, alternative channels and delegation mechanisms for citizens with different levels of digital confidence and access to technology. Van Zijp says these measures are needed so digitalisation doesn't create new barriers.
People also need clear ways to correct information and recover access. Information can be incorrect, credentials can fail and devices can be lost, he writes. A functioning ecosystem matters, too: businesses may hesitate to invest without enough users, while citizens may see little reason to adopt a Wallet until it works with services they value.
Who Builds Trust
Governments can help by enabling high-value public services and working with private-sector providers to create everyday uses for citizens. Van Zijp argues that anchoring exchanges in European law, standards and identity infrastructure could combine interoperability with privacy, and innovation with democratic control.
The model could also be relevant beyond Europe, he says, as governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America develop digital identity systems. He identifies proportionality, user control and data protection as fundamental to the Wallet’s success.
Van Zijp writes that the regulatory framework has created the opportunity and that the technology is ready, but services still need to be built that citizens choose to use. “Europe has legislated trust. Now we must earn it. The growth will follow.”
Van Zijp is Executive Vice President Europe at IN Groupe, a French state-owned company that specializes in secure identity and document systems and a global leader in secure identity and trust services.