According to EGBA, the initiative would result in “more consistent methods” to identity verification for numerous online sectors in Europe.
The new European digital Identity wallets would let all Europeans to use online services without having to employ private identifying techniques or divulge personal information unnecessarily.
To make it a reality as soon as feasible, the Commission asks member states to create a common toolbox by September 2022 and to begin the required preparations right away. This should cover the technical architecture, as well as best practices standards and recommendations.
Executive vice-president for a ‘Europe Fit for the Digital Age’, Margrethe Vestager said: “The European digital identity will enable us to do in any member state as we do at home without any extra cost and fewer hurdles. Be that renting a flat or opening a bank account outside of our home country. And do this in a way that is secure and transparent. So that we will decide how much information we wish to share about ourselves, with whom and for what purpose."
“This is a unique opportunity to take us all further into experiencing what it means to live in Europe, and to be European,” Vestager added.
EU public and private sector bodies to provide the e-ID
The European Commission’s new proposal, which amends the Commission’s previous eIDAS regulation, would require EU public and private sector bodies to provide the e-ID, allowing EU citizens to use it to identify and authenticate themselves to access services in both the public and private sectors anywhere in the region.
According to the European Commission, this adoption might benefit the EU economy by €9.6 billion and create up to 27,000 jobs over a five-year period.
Currently, 14 EU nations have e-ID schemes, with only seven of them including mobile apps, and the Commission has set a target of 80 percent of EU citizens using e-ID by 2030.
Practical and secure
Ekaterina Hartmann, director of the EGBA said: “An ever-increasing number of Europeans are using online services and a common electronic identification method would help them to access online services in a practical, secure way which safeguards their data.”
“We welcome the proposal for a Europe-wide e-ID, which would have significant positive impacts on the way KYC is conducted in Europe’s online gambling sector and help establish more common approaches to identity verification,” Hartmann added.
“An EU e-ID would, for example, help strengthen existing processes to prevent minors from accessing online gambling and to fight fraud and money laundering,” Hartmann concluded.
Source: GMB
