EU Digital Identity Wallet: the December 2026 deadline
Every Member State must offer at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet by 24 December 2026. Regulated private services must accept it a year later.
eIDAS 2, Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, entered into force on 20 May 2024. Its best-known part is the European Digital Identity Wallet: an app in which people can keep their identity data and other attested attributes, such as a driving licence or a diploma, show only what is needed, and sign documents with a qualified electronic signature.
The deadline for Member States
Each Member State must provide at least one wallet within 24 months of the entry into force of the implementing acts on the wallet's core functions and certification. The Commission adopted the first five of them on 28 November 2024 (Implementing Regulations (EU) 2024/2977 to 2024/2982). They were published on 4 December 2024 and entered into force 20 days later, which puts the deadline at 24 December 2026. The Commission described the adoption as a step towards Member States releasing their wallets by the end of 2026. More implementing acts followed, and the Commission continues to consult on technical updates.
What the wallet must offer
- Issuing, using and revoking the wallet is free of charge for natural persons.
- Users decide which data they share with a relying party, and can see a log of what they shared.
- The wallet can create qualified electronic signatures and seals.
- Using the wallet is voluntary: nobody may be put at a disadvantage for not using it.
Who must accept it, and when
- Public bodies that require electronic identification for online services must accept the wallet once it is available.
- Private relying parties that are required by law or by contract to use strong user authentication, for example in banking and financial services, transport, energy, health, telecommunications and education, must accept it when the user asks, within 36 months of the implementing acts entering into force: by 24 December 2027. Micro and small enterprises are exempt from this duty.
- Very large online platforms must accept the wallet when they require users to authenticate.
What businesses can do now
- Check whether your services fall under the acceptance duty from December 2027.
- Follow your national wallet: its launch date, the credentials it will carry and the test environment for relying parties.
- For signatures, nothing changes in the meantime: the three levels of electronic signature and their legal effect stay as they are.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 (European Digital Identity Framework, eIDAS 2)
- European Commission: Commission adopts technical standards for cross-border European Digital Identity Wallets (28 November 2024)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2977
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2979
- European Commission: The European Digital Identity Regulation
For information only, not legal advice. Last updated 19 October 2026.
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