Bulgaria will build and roll out a European digital identity wallet, the cabinet has decided. The wallet will let people and businesses prove who they are safely when they use online services, the government press office said.
People will be able to use it to show data and certificates and to sign documents with a qualified electronic signature. It will work for services from both the state and private companies.
The wallet will link up with several systems, including Bulgaria's national electronic identification tools and the horizontal system for electronic authentication. It will also work with providers of identification data for people and attributes, providers of trust services, and any online service that agrees to accept it.
The innovation and digital transformation minister must draw up a plan for running the wallet and get the process moving to have it built, rolled out and kept running. The same minister will oversee the providers of European wallets and act as the single point of contact with EU institutions.
Bulgaria still needs to draw up and approve a national scheme to certify the wallet. Awarding contracts and funding will be kept separate from oversight and certification, to keep the process transparent, independent and free of conflicts of interest.
By the end of 2026, Bulgaria must have the trust infrastructure ready, along with ways for people to use the wallet both at home and abroad.
The requirement comes from an EU regulation that took effect in May 2024 and updated the eIDAS rules. Under it, every EU country must offer its citizens and businesses at least one version of the European digital identity wallet, known as the EUDI Wallet.
The European Union has now entered the final stage of rolling out the European digital identity, or EUDI.