The European Commission is proposing to extend the European Digital Identity Wallet beyond identification by adding verifiable diplomas, professional qualifications and selected social-security documents. The goal is to make those credentials easier to present and check when people work in another EU member state, rather than relying on paper copies or saved PDFs.
The labor-mobility package would create standardized digital qualifications and tools to compare them across member states. For regulated professions, the Commission also proposes digitized recognition procedures, with some processes targeted to fall from up to three months to around five weeks.
- Digital qualifications: a standardized format and cross-border comparison tools would support the use of education and professional credentials in other EU countries.
- Recognition for regulated professions: the proposed digital process is intended to accelerate certain qualification-recognition procedures.
- ESSPASS: the European Social Security Pass would allow people to request and store documents digitally, starting with the A1 form used by posted workers and later including the European health insurance card.
Under the ESSPASS plan, authorities in another member state could verify eligible social-security documents electronically. That would shift the wallet concept toward a portable administrative record that can carry proof of qualifications and certain social entitlements alongside digital identity credentials.
The changes are not yet available. The package consists of a Commission communication and five legislative proposals that require adoption by the European Parliament and the Council. The A1 form is scheduled for digitization one year after the ESSPASS regulation enters into force, while digital diplomas and streamlined qualification recognition could take up to three years after adoption.
