Finland is participating in three different consortia that applied for funding in August 2022 for the cross-border piloting of European wallet applications. The EU Commission has invited all three consortia to prepare a grant agreement. Finland’s participation has been coordinated by the Ministry of Finance.
The funds are granted from the EU’s DEP funding (Digital Europe Programme). The Commission finances half of the wallet application pilots. Finland’s national share is financed by the Ministry of Finance from the appropriations of the digital identity project.
Finland applied for funding in three different consortia as follows:
- In the POTENTIAL consortium led by France and Germany, Finland’s key goal is the piloting of a mobile driving licence.
- In the Swedish-led EWC consortium, Finland focuses on digital corporate identities and business wallets in collaboration with the Real-Time Economy project led by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. Participants in the pilot are the Ministry of Finance, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the Tax Administration, as well as the private-sector operators Finnair, Tietoevry and Findynet Osuuskunta.
- In the DC4EU consortium led by Spain, Finland focuses on piloting the use of diplomas of the higher education sector in European wallet applications.
The Ministry of Finance coordinates the pilots, which will start after the signing of the grant agreement in April 2023. According to a preliminary estimate, the EU Commission and the Ministry of Finance will both finance the pilots with approximately two million euros in the years 2023–2025.
“Piloting corporate wallets is a key task for the Real-Time Economy project, which we have already been promoting in the Nordic cooperation proof-of-business trial. This is a good foundation to move forward on a broader basis to promote international business,” says project director Minna Rintala of the Real-Time Economy project.
Read the Ministry of Finance press release 15 December 2022
More about wallets on the EWC consortium website
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Wallet applications included in the eIDAS regulation
The development of the wallet application in the EU is based on the legislative proposal issued by the Commission in June 2021, which amends the EU’s so-called eIDAS regulation.
The eIDAS regulation provides for the identification of (persons) in cross-border transactions and trust services for electronic transactions. With the legislative change, the regulation would also regulate European wallet applications in the future.
The pilots of European wallet solutions will have an impact on how wallet solutions develop in practice and, for example, how they would be utilized in transaction services. Finland’s goal is to especially ensure the cross-border compatibility of wallet applications and to ensure the participation of private sector actors in the development of the wallet ecosystem.