Romania will adopt and use for its national version of the EU Digital Identity Wallet, RoEUDIW, the open-source solution developed by Germany, the government announced.
The decision is meant to cut costs and “avoid developing the infrastructure for a complex project from scratch,” the government said, as EU member states need to offer such a solution to their citizens by the end of 2026.
Germany’s solution was chosen following “a rigorous evaluation of EUDI Wallet solutions at various implementation stages in other member states.” With its focus on innovation and user safety, Germany’s solution “reflects the commitment to the European values of confidentiality, security, and data sovereignty that Romania shares,” the government’s announcement reads.
RoEUDIW will allow citizens to show proof of their identity and store on their phones documents such as driving licenses, university diplomas, or the health card. The digital identity will be used to access services in any EU member state. Users will retain control over their personal data and be able to share information selectively. For instance, for age verification, they would be able to share the birthdate without sharing the personal identification number.
All personal data will be stored exclusively on the national infrastructure, the government explained.
The development of the RoEUDIW solution and ecosystem will be carried out in stages. This year, the efforts will focus on: implementing the first version of the RoEUDIW mobile application; issuing the PID (personal identification data) and developing the age verification functionality; and finalizing the regulatory framework.
In the future, Romania plans to open the market to private providers of digital wallets, as long as they are certified according to national rules, the government said.
Several institutions are involved in the project. The cabinet of deputy PM Oana Gheorghiu is tasked with coordinating the interinstitutional group that will work on the legal framework and implementation capacity for the project.
The Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism acts as the supervisory authority of the EUDIW ecosystem. It also ensures the technical monitoring of the implemented solutions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) is the official provider of the mobile application and the backend infrastructure. It will also issue the PID and provide the age verification credentials.
The Special Telecommunications Service (STS) will issue access certificates for participants in the ecosystem (wallet providers, issuers, and other parties). It will issue registration certificates for all entities recorded in the register of service providers within the electronic wallet ecosystem. STS will also act as Registry Administrator, ensuring the development, administration, and maintenance of the centralized register of parties, and as Attestation Scheme Provider.
simona@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Marina Demidiuk/Dreamstime.com)
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