The German government signed a memorandum of understanding with over 75 organizations and companies, committing to collaborate on the introduction of the EU Digital Identity Wallet in Germany and throughout the EU.
Bitkom a [1] German digital association, has announced that the EUDI Wallet [2] aims to enable citizens to securely store official documents, including identity cards and driving licenses, on their smartphones. Signatories to the memorandum have pledged to modify their processes to facilitate the practical use of the EUDI Wallet for identification, age verification, and the display of digital credentials in public services and private sector applications.
Germany's national EUDI Wallet project is overseen by [3] the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, with implementation handled by an interdisciplinary team coordinated by the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation. The initiative seeks to create a wallet that is interoperable throughout the EU, facilitating secure storage and presentation of digital identity credentials both offline and online.
A memorandum of understanding or MoU [4] was signed in Berlin during the Franco-German summit in Berlin, which centred on European digital sovereignty. As part of this initiative, the two nations expressed their commitment to simplifying and reducing bureaucracy through the implementation of European digital solutions in public administration. France and Germany are set to establish a joint task force focused on European digital sovereignty, which will aim to create a unified definition of a European digital service and address EU regulatory frameworks. Additional areas of focus will include cloud services, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
Friedrich Merz [5] the German Chancellor said, “The summit marks an important milestone on the path towards a more sovereign, secure and competitive digital Europe. I would like to thank France for working with us toward this goal. For Europe, digital sovereignty means the ability to shape technology across the entire value chain in line with European interests and needs. We seek competition on equal terms. This does not exclude anyone. As a community of states, we must align our legal frameworks, procurement and investment procedures accordingly.”
Emmanuel Macron [6] the French President also said, “The Digital Sovereignty Summit sends a clear signal, Europe has what it takes to lead the digital age. Alongside Germany and following the AI Action Summit held in Paris earlier this year, this summit marks tangible progress. Europe is stepping up to accelerate the development of European innovation, to uphold strong data protection, and to call for fair market conditions.”
This agreement was made 2 years after [7] a coalition of stakeholders has issued an open letter criticizing the existing legal framework for the European Digital ID system in 2023. The group has raised concerns regarding potential infringements on privacy, specifically the risk of losing anonymity and the possibility of increased tracking by major technology companies. Concerns [8] have been raised that the system may compromise anonymity, resulting in what some describe as 'over-identification' and a potential erosion of privacy. Additionally, there are apprehensions that the system could allow major technology companies to monitor individuals' behaviour.
The letter argues that the existing framework of the system could jeopardize the privacy of EU citizens, placing them at a disadvantage compared to individuals in other regions. “In its current form, the European Digital Identity System would be a gift for Google and Facebook to undermine the privacy of EU citizens. This will impact everyone in the EU and put them at a lower privacy level than people in other world regions. Today, we are surveilled based on illegal device fingerprinting. All our clicks and touches are fed into behavioural profiles about us. Soon the eIDAS regulation might introduce a unique and persistent identifier for every citizen that allows the same Big Tech actors to correlate our behaviour across the public and private sector with unprecedented accuracy. No technical or organizational measure can prevent the large-scale abuse of such a serial number for humans,” said the stakeholder coalition.