European parliamentarians have cast their votes in favor of the proposal for a European Union-wide digital wallet. At this stage, discussions with EU member states on the modification of the new European Identity (eID) directive will commence. The proposal passed the plenary vote with 418 votes in favor of the bid and another 103 against it. About 24 members of Parliament were absent and, therefore, did not vote.
Inter-institutional negotiation is the next phase for the introduction of the EU-wide digital wallet framework after passing the vote. The final form of the legislation will be discussed by the EU council at this phase, according to lawmakers. The digital wallet aims to provide citizens of the EU region with safe and secured digital access to necessary public services across the EU borders.
The proposed eID scheme was introduced almost two years ago and its focus is to permit a virtual identification and authentication process for citizens by leveraging the European digital wallet instead of the prevalent use of commercial providers. Over time, the commercial service provider strategy has been discovered to have certain flaws including trust, security, and privacy concerns.
EU Aims to Give Citizens Control of Their Data
As the framework moves to the next phase, the Parliament will base its negotiation on the amendment assigned to the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE). This committee was responsible for the drafting of the proposal and included subjects that cut across cybersecurity, governance, data protection, as well as the digitalization of public services.
Later, the committee proposed an amendment that expanded users’ capacity with the European Digital Identity Wallet (EIDW) to include the ability to carry out a verification process for companies and other citizens. For the identification and authentication process, users can store information like names, addresses, and even digitized documents like birth certificates, bank statements, and even diplomas.
This amendment was also passed in a vote on February 9th. Ultimately, the EU is seeking a technology that “give users full control of their data and lets them decide what information to share and with whom.”
At the same time, the EU has not relented on its crypto regulation implementation. The Market in Crypto Asset (MiCA) framework which many believe is the solution to some regulatory uncertainties, is still being processed. Legislators in the EU have also proposed strict policies for traditional banks holding cryptocurrency to avoid a collapse like in the case of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank in the United States.
