eIDAS 2.0 and the EU Digital Identity Wallet: What Enterprises Must Prepare For

Executive summary — The European Union is doing something no jurisdiction has attempted at this scale: giving every citizen a government-backed digital identity wallet and requiring large parts of the economy to accept it. eIDAS 2.0 is the regulation behind it, and its effects reach well beyond Europe, because any organisation serving EU customers will eventually deal with the wallet. This explainer covers what changed, when it lands, and what to do, building on the fundamentals of electronic signatures.

The original eIDAS regulation, from 2014, created a framework for electronic signatures, seals, timestamps and trust services across the EU. It worked, but it left identity fragmented: national schemes did not interoperate well, and there was no citizen-held credential that worked everywhere. eIDAS 2.0 is the answer to that gap, and its centrepiece is the European Digital Identity Wallet.

What actually changed

eIDAS 2.0 — formally Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 — entered into force on 20 May 2024. Its headline change is the mandate for every member state to offer citizens a European Digital Identity Wallet: a government-recognised app that holds identity attributes and verifiable credentials, and lets the holder prove who they are and share specific attributes selectively. Alongside the wallet, the regulation strengthens and broadens trust services, and it introduces the concept of qualified electronic attestation of attributes — a signed, legally weighty way to prove facts like age, qualifications or professional status.

The rollout timeline

The dates are firm and close. Following entry into force in 2024, the European Commission adopted implementing acts defining the wallet's technical and security specifications, and 2026 has seen the first national wallets and beta versions appear. The key deadline for enterprises to note is that every member state must make at least one compliant European Digital Identity Wallet available to its citizens by the end of 2026. Obligations on the private sector follow: over the subsequent period, large online platforms and organisations in regulated sectors such as banking, healthcare and telecommunications will be required to accept the wallet as a means of identification when users choose to use it.

Preparing to accept the EU Digital Identity Wallet in your workflows? eMudhra emSigner and eMudhra's trust services align signing and identity to eIDAS. Request a briefing.

What relying parties must do

An organisation that accepts the wallet is, in eIDAS terms, a relying party, and relying parties have real obligations. They must register so that wallets can recognise and trust them, they must request only the attributes they genuinely need — the regulation is built around data minimisation and user consent — and they must be able to verify presented credentials cryptographically. Practically, this means integrating wallet acceptance into onboarding, authentication and signing flows, and treating a wallet-presented credential as a first-class, legally recognised proof rather than a novelty. eMudhra's work on eSignature for banking illustrates the kind of high-assurance onboarding where wallet integration will matter first.

Why this matters beyond Europe

The wallet is an EU initiative, but its gravity is global. Any organisation with EU customers, employees or counterparties will encounter it, and its design — citizen-held credentials, selective disclosure, qualified attestations — is likely to influence identity programmes elsewhere, much as GDPR shaped privacy law far beyond Europe. Enterprises would be wise to treat eIDAS 2.0 not as a European compliance chore but as a preview of where high-assurance digital identity is heading, and to build the underlying trust services capabilities accordingly. Those weighing qualified trust providers for this journey will find eMudhra's guide to qualified trust service providers a useful evaluation frame.

Get ready for citizen-held identity before the deadline

eMudhra will help you align signing, onboarding and trust services to eIDAS 2.0 and the EU Digital Identity Wallet. Explore emSigner or book an eIDAS readiness briefing.