MEPs of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) debated, on Tuesday 30 November, the European Commission’s proposal for a European Digital Identity Wallet (see EUROPE 12733/1).
Several issues seemed to concern the MEPs, starting with the interoperability of the system, described by a majority of European Parliament political groups as “essential”.
“Some Member States are leading the way in development, with many of their services already online. The wallet must work across borders to avoid fragmentation of the internal digital market”, insisted Romana Jerković (S&D, Croatia).
At present, only 14% of Member States, representing 60% of the EU population, have adopted a digital identification system.
“This means, above all, that 40% of the population does not have access”, the European Commission summarised.
To bridge this divide, a number of MEPs - such as the Estonian MEP, Riho Terras (EPP) - also insisted on the need to include the private sector from the very beginning of the process of building this single wallet.
In addition, the issues of financing and maintenance costs of the future identity wallet also came up several times.
On this point, the Commission summarised, “there is already an economic model that allows savings to be made. Processing SIM cards or bank cards costs money and would be rendered obsolete by the electronic wallet.
Trust and data protection
In addition, several MEPs also stressed the importance of focusing on trust and data protection. A number of provisions contained in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are taken up in this respect in the Commission’s proposal on a digital identity.
“The wallet, the transfer of data, how it is managed and by whom, needs to be clarified. The European Parliament should have the final say on the subject”, claimed Mikuláš Peksa (Greens/EFA, Czech Republic).
For other MEPs, some lessons could be learned from the health crisis. “We could look at what the deployment of vaccination certificates can teach us about this issue”, said Henna Virkkunen (EPP, Finland).
In terms of a timetable, Ms Jerković, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the dossier, confirmed her ambition to present her report by the end of March 2022. “This would allow us to vote in committee in July”, she added.
The topic of European digital identity will also be on the agenda of the EU Member States’ Telecommunications Ministers on 3 December. On this occasion, the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council will inform them of the discussions held at technical level. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)