On 17 May, the Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) will take stock of a number of outstanding issues in the inter-institutional (‘trilogue’) negotiations on the future European Digital Identity wallet (eID) (see EUROPE 13159/15). The second trilogue will take place on 23 May.
The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which indicated in a document dated 5 May “that it wants to find an agreement as soon as possible”, would like to know in particular the degree of flexibility of Member States with regard to the European Parliament’s demands on governance. The European Parliament has introduced a new section in the text in this area. Some elements are already included in the 2014 Regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions (eIDAS), but the European Parliament would like a single national contact point to be established. This would be responsible for ensuring cross-border cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States, the Commission and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
Still on the subject of governance, the Parliament also proposes that national authorities should also be responsible for the supervision of issuers of European digital identity wallets and of user parties. They could take action in case of “illegal or inappropriate” behaviour.
In addition, the Parliament proposed to include the planned use of the European Digital Identity Wallet for transparency purposes, so that only the data necessary for the provision of the service is requested from the user. On this issue, the European Parliament had taken a step forward towards the EU Council, agreeing that the registration process for user parties should also be “cost-effective and proportionate to the risk”.
Finally, the Swedish Presidency of the Council wants to sound out Member States before the next round of negotiations with the European Parliament on the issue of establishing a potential ‘European Digital Identity Framework Council’.
This entity would be responsible, among other things, for assisting the Commission in the preparation of legal and policy work, exchanging best practices and information, and organising regular joint meetings with interested parties. In addition, this Council should issue common guidelines, including on notification of breaches, and prosecute user parties for illegal or fraudulent use of the European Digital Identity Wallet. The authorisation of their use could be suspended until the irregularities identified have been remedied.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/6vg (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)