Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers has approved steps to develop and provide a European Digital Identity Wallet, designating the minister of innovation and digital transformation as the supervisory authority for wallet providers and the country’s single point of contact with European institutions.
The planned wallet will allow citizens and businesses to identify themselves when accessing electronic services, submit personal data and certificates, and use a qualified electronic signature. The cabinet decision covers participation in both public and private electronic services.
The wallet is to connect with Bulgaria’s national electronic identification means and its shared electronic authentication system. The integration also includes providers of personal identification data and other attributes, electronic trust-service providers, and services that accept the wallet.
Those connections cover the different participants in a wallet transaction: an organization providing identity or attribute data, the wallet holding the credential, and a service requesting verification. Bulgaria’s decision sets the institutional direction for development and supervision of that ecosystem.
The European Digital Identity framework builds on the EU’s eIDAS rules for electronic identification and trust services. It requires member states to offer wallets that connect national digital identities with other credentials, such as driving licences and educational qualifications. Wallets can be issued by public bodies or recognized private providers.
The European Commission describes user control as a central requirement. People should be able to choose which identity attributes they share with a service, limiting the disclosure of information that is unnecessary for the transaction. The framework also provides for free qualified electronic signatures for individuals’ non-professional use.
Other member states are setting their own implementation schedules. Germany has named its wallet d-you and plans a January 2027 launch, with voluntary use for identification and attribute sharing. Its initial partner group includes organizations preparing to accept the wallet in customer-facing services.
Financial technology providers are also building connections for businesses that will receive credentials. Worldline and Lissi’s managed EUDI wallet hub is designed to connect banks to public and private wallets for processes including customer onboarding and authentication.
In Bulgaria, the cabinet’s decision brings wallet development, integration with national identity infrastructure and provider supervision under a defined administrative framework. The minister’s European contact role will also coordinate Bulgaria’s participation with the institutions implementing the common identity-wallet system.
Sources: Bulgarian News Agency, European Commission
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
