The EU Digital Wallet: what stage is the project at now?

Piloting the EU Digital Identity Wallet

The EU Digital Identity Wallet initiative accelerated in June 2021 when the European Commission proposed a framework for a new European Digital Identity. This proposal revised the existing 2014 eIDAS Regulation, paving the way for eIDAS 2.0. In 2023, the Council presidency and the European Parliament reached an agreement on this new framework.

Since then, the initiative has entered a hands-on phase with six large-scale pilot projects involving around 550 public and private stakeholders across 26 EU Member States, as well as Norway, Iceland and Ukraine. Four pilots concluded in 2025, and two new ones were launched. Together, these initiatives test priority use cases, explore how the technology operates in practice and refine the end-to-end user experience.

After intense Large Scale Pilot phases, the EU Digital Identity Wallet is expected to be available to citizens in all Member States by the end of 2026. Service providers, including public administrations, banks, telecom operators and insurers, will be required to accept it by the end of 2027.

Thales’ involvement in EU Large Scale Pilots (LSP) projects

Thales contributes to several European large-scale pilot initiatives supporting the EU Digital Identity Wallet, including POTENTIAL, NOBID, ODYSSEUS and the APTITUDE consortium.

Across these programmes, we work with public authorities and ecosystem partners to test use cases, assess security and interoperability requirements, and contribute to implementation feedback for eIDAS 2.0 deployments.

POTENTIAL LSP (Apr 2023 – Oct 2025)

POTENTIAL tested six EU Digital Identity Wallet use cases through large-scale pilots in 20 countries, including access to eGovernment services, opening a bank account, SIM registration, mobile driving licence (mDL), qualified electronic signature and ePrescription.

Within POTENTIAL, Thales worked with the French ANTS on a proof of concept, contributing expertise in hardware and software-based security and supporting the definition of an approach targeting a high level of assurance (LoA High). This included assessing how encryption keys can be securely stored using embedded secure elements in mobile devices.

NOBID LSP (Apr 2023 – Oct 2025)

In NOBID, which explored how the wallet could be used to authorise payments across Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Germany and Italy, Thales contributed to the design of the NOBID EU Wallet based on the EU Wallet Reference Application and added user flows to cover more complex payment scenarios. Using the Thales Trusted Cred Platform, Thales enabled the issuance of Personal Identification Data (PID) in ISO/IEC 18013-5 format, as well as banking credentials in W3C Verifiable Credentials format, securely provisioned into EU Digital ID Wallets across 6 countries and coming from multiple issuing authorities. These results were supported by the platform’s capabilities for multi-issuer operations, multiple credential formats and integration readiness with the EU Digital Identity Wallet ecosystem.

ODYSSEUS EU Horizon (Aug 2023 – Nov 2025)

In the ODYSSEUS EU-funded project, Thales supported the delivery of world’s first Digital Travel Credential (DTC) Type 2 pilot. The company provided remote ID verification for user onboarding, the Trusted Cred Platform for digital travel credential issuance and lifecycle management, the ID Bridge Platform for authentication and consent, and DTC technology based on a mobile ePassport approach. Pilots launched in December 2024 at the Ungheni border crossing between Romania and Moldova and expanded to Bulgaria and Slovakia in 2025. The project assessed technical performance, compliance and operational effectiveness for next-generation EU border management, with positive feedback from travellers, border control officers and stakeholders including Frontex.

APTITUDE LSP (Oct 2025 – ongoing)

Within APTITUDE, Thales contributes its experience in border management and digital identity, with a focus on Digital Travel Credentials. Thales works with Groupe ADP (Roissy and Orly airports) and other partners to test and refine border-crossing journeys supported by digital credentials.

Use cases being tested in the Large Scale Pilots

Use cases covered by EU Wallet pilots include:

• Accessing government services
  For example: applying for a passport, filing taxes, or accessing social security information.
• Opening a bank account
  Secure identity verification for remote onboarding and account opening.
• Registering a SIM or eSIM
  Proving identity when onboarding pre-paid and post-paid mobile subscriptions.
• Using a mobile driving licence (mDL)
  Storing and presenting a digital driving licence in online journeys and in-person checks (including offline presentation scenarios).
• Signing documents and contracts
  Creating qualified electronic signatures to sign documents digitally.
• Using ePrescriptions
  Presenting prescription information to a pharmacist, including cross-border scenarios.
• Travelling
  Presenting travel-related credentials (e.g., digital travel credentials) during border-crossing and airport journeys.
• Proving organisational identity and representation
  Showing that a person is authorised to act on behalf of an organisation in digital processes.
• Making payments
  Authorising payments by sharing verified identity and payment-related attributes.
• Sharing education and professional credentials
  Accessing and presenting digital diplomas, degrees, qualifications and licences.
• Accessing social security benefits
  Storing and presenting entitlements such as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to simplify access to public services.
• Business identification (KYB / “KYx”)
  Supporting B2B, B2G and B2C interactions by verifying business identity and sharing attributes such as company registration details, VAT number, and IBAN.
• Proof of age (age assurance)
  Confirming eligibility (e.g., over 18) without disclosing unnecessary personal data.
• Proving an address or residency
  Sharing verified address attributes when required for regulated or local services (e.g., onboarding, municipal services).
• Presenting a photo ID attestation in proximity checks
  Using a wallet-held photo ID–style attestation for face-to-face verification scenarios where a quick visual check is needed.
• Linking verified banking attributes
  Presenting verified attributes such as IBAN/account ownership to support onboarding and payment authorisation journeys.