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> The digital wallet will securely store payment details and passwords and allow citizens from all 27 countries to log onto local government websites or pay uti

> The digital wallet will securely store payment details and passwords and allow citizens from all 27 countries to log onto local government websites or pay utility bills using a single recognised identity, the newspaper said, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans. Does it seems like solution in search of a problem? I'm sure there's a % of people who deal with multiple EU governments at a time or frequently move. But to me that seems like a tiny fraction. Would be good if they published some stats around this i.e., y% or x million would use this on a daily/monthly basis or some such. Would be a shame if such a mega undertaking would end up useful to a niche customer base.

arc-in-space 5y ago
To "aim to enable EU citizens to study, live, shop, work and retire in any EU country" is an official goal of the European Union. If not many people are able to do this, then perhaps it has simply not yet succeeded.
pimterry 5y ago
> Would be good if they published some stats around this i.e., y% or x million would use this on a daily/monthly basis or some such. In 2019 1.4 million people migrated from one EU state to another [1], and 3.3% of EU working age citizens lived outside their country of citizenship (and that's rapidly rising - a 40% increase over the last 10 years) [2]. That's a baseline minimum of people who clearly need this. It doesn't count people who don't register because they only move temporarily (where it's not worth registering today because without such a system the paperwork can be a hassle!), it doesn't count migrants who now have citizenship in their destination country, it doesn't count the many non-working-age people who retire to southern europe, and it doesn't count people who interact with foreign EU governments for any reasons other than permanent residency. For example, you might want to securely access EU personal data while on holiday for health care (a digital EHIC), you might need to share your foreign driving license details with a car rental company, or your work may involve cross-EU business administration. This wallet won't be useful for everybody, but if it works well it would be a very valuable tool for many millions of people today, and likely many more in future. [1]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php... (full article, first paragraph) [2]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_citizens_living_in_another_Member_State_-_statistical_overview https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
- vishnugupta 5y ago
  Thanks for the details and context! Now it makes lot of sense to me. I wonder if they should decouple solution to payments (to utility etc.,) from the identity. As for the payments, I believe it's better to expand an existing solution than build one from ground up. iDEAL for example, is a proven solution that's been in use in Netherlands for a while now. And since it's based on IBAN that's understood by all (?) the EU banks I guess it's worth expanding iDEAL to pan EU.
stkdump 5y ago
It is more like solving a problem once rather than creating 27 different, incompatible solutions for the same problem. I don't see how the problem should get harder to solve, just because you apply the solution to 500M instead of 20M people. After all, it is mostly software.
MagnumOpus 5y ago
The clients might not move frequently, but they might still access services abroad. Even the simple case of age verification when buying alcohol or cigarettes or computer games on a web shop in a different country, or the more involved checks of identity when looking at within-EU online prescription drug buying, car or home insurance purchase, vaccination status verification etc.

arc-in-space 5y ago

To "aim to enable EU citizens to study, live, shop, work and retire in any EU country" is an official goal of the European Union. If not many people are able to do this, then perhaps it has simply not yet succeeded.

pimterry 5y ago

> Would be good if they published some stats around this i.e., y% or x million would use this on a daily/monthly basis or some such. In 2019 1.4 million people migrated from one EU state to another [1], and 3.3% of EU working age citizens lived outside their country of citizenship (and that's rapidly rising - a 40% increase over the last 10 years) [2]. That's a baseline minimum of people who clearly need this. It doesn't count people who don't register because they only move temporarily (where it's not worth registering today because without such a system the paperwork can be a hassle!), it doesn't count migrants who now have citizenship in their destination country, it doesn't count the many non-working-age people who retire to southern europe, and it doesn't count people who interact with foreign EU governments for any reasons other than permanent residency. For example, you might want to securely access EU personal data while on holiday for health care (a digital EHIC), you might need to share your foreign driving license details with a car rental company, or your work may involve cross-EU business administration. This wallet won't be useful for everybody, but if it works well it would be a very valuable tool for many millions of people today, and likely many more in future. [1]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php... (full article, first paragraph) [2]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_citizens_living_in_another_Member_State_-_statistical_overview https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...

vishnugupta 5y ago
Thanks for the details and context! Now it makes lot of sense to me. I wonder if they should decouple solution to payments (to utility etc.,) from the identity. As for the payments, I believe it's better to expand an existing solution than build one from ground up. iDEAL for example, is a proven solution that's been in use in Netherlands for a while now. And since it's based on IBAN that's understood by all (?) the EU banks I guess it's worth expanding iDEAL to pan EU.

stkdump 5y ago

It is more like solving a problem once rather than creating 27 different, incompatible solutions for the same problem. I don't see how the problem should get harder to solve, just because you apply the solution to 500M instead of 20M people. After all, it is mostly software.

MagnumOpus 5y ago

The clients might not move frequently, but they might still access services abroad. Even the simple case of age verification when buying alcohol or cigarettes or computer games on a web shop in a different country, or the more involved checks of identity when looking at within-EU online prescription drug buying, car or home insurance purchase, vaccination status verification etc.