European digital identity one step closer

The European Parliament (EP) supports the use of biometric data for electronic identification in the European Union. It also recognizes the important role of notaries in establishing identity. The EP announced this in its position on European digital identity.

The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB) is thus seeing its lobbying efforts pay off. In recent months, the KNB has been working to achieve the highest possible level of reliability for identification methods by incorporating the use of biometric data. We explicitly raised this point, including in discussions with relevant policymakers such as Member of the European Parliament Romana Jerković and Amber Stoof of the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands in Brussels. The visual below also contributed to communicating our position.

Wallet
The European Digital Identity (eID) aims to enable citizens to digitally prove their identity throughout the EU and share electronic certificates (such as birth and marriage certificates) from a European Digital Identity Wallet. The proposal for the eID Regulation, presented by the European Commission in June 2021, obliges Member States to offer at least one electronic identification method and sets conditions for these identification methods.

Negotiations
Both the Parliament and the Council of the European Union have now determined their positions on the eID Regulation. Both want biometric data to be added to electronic identification. Now that all positions are known, the Parliament, Council, and European Commission can begin negotiations on the final law. It is expected to enter into force at the end of 2023. The Royal Netherlands Notary Association (KNB) expects a positive outcome for the Dutch notarial profession.