Companies in the EU should also receive a digital identity. Similar to the EUDI wallets planned for EU citizens, the European Business Wallet is intended to enable companies across the EU to secure and trustworthy identification and authentication in business transactions and towards authorities. The EU Commission hopes to simplify administrative processes and ensure cost savings – the savings potential should be over 150 billion euros per year if the wallet is widely used.
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The business wallet, presented as part of the EU Commission’s Digital Omnibus package, is to be given a legally equivalent status to actions that are carried out in person, on paper or through other legally recognized methods. In addition to the identification option, companies should also be able to use the wallet to sign, time stamp or seal documents. This would allow companies to create and exchange verified digital documents such as licenses, certificates and permits.
No obligation for companies
However, there should only be an obligation to support the European business wallet for the administration. According to the current draft, companies are free to decide whether they use the wallet for themselves or not. In a document accompanying the draft law, the EU Commission estimates the costs of introducing it in administration at around 7.33 billion euros in the first year, although 6.18 billion euros are one-off implementation costs for training, software changes and the like.
If introduced in three-quarters of all companies, the economy could face costs of just over 45 billion euros in the first year, including 25 billion euros in one-off costs. The bottom line is that the savings potential should far outweigh the costs for implementation and operation.
Two year introductory phase
The technical architecture and functions of the business wallets should be based on the EUDI wallets and thus offer an interoperable cloud-based identity solution. Wallet providers should be responsible for guaranteeing cryptographic integrity and confidentiality between the backend and frontend of wallet applications and devices. The EU Commission wants to develop precise technical standards and requirements together with its member states and the private sector and carry out large-scale pilot projects.
In any case, the draft for the wallet still needs to receive approval from the European Parliament and the member states. After adoption, a two-year transition phase to introduce the European business wallet is currently planned for all levels of public administration throughout the EU.
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(sigh)
