eIDAS 2.0, Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, amends Regulation (EU) 910/2014 and significantly changes how identity verification works at European borders and during EU travel. It does so by introducing the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, which allows EU citizens to present verified digital travel credentials directly from their smartphone, removing the need to repeatedly show physical documents at every checkpoint. The regulation applies to all EU Member States and affects everyone from individual travelers to airlines, border agencies, and transport operators. Below, we walk through the most important questions organizations and travelers are asking about eIDAS 2.0 and its impact on travel across Europe.
What changes does eIDAS 2.0 bring to cross-border identity verification?
eIDAS 2.0 creates a unified, legally binding framework for cross-border identity verification across all EU Member States. Where the original eIDAS regulation allowed countries to notify their own national eID schemes without any obligation to make them interoperable, the updated regulation closes that gap by requiring every Member State to issue an EUDI Wallet to citizens, residents, and businesses. A certified and notified wallet from one Member State must be recognized across the EU, provided the relying party and the applicable cross-border use case are supported.
The original regulation had a fundamental weakness: countries could opt in or out of building digital identity systems, which led to significant fragmentation. Some Member States had mature national eID schemes while others had almost nothing. eIDAS 2.0 ends that approach. Cross-border identity verification is no longer dependent on bilateral agreements or technical compatibility between national systems. A single interoperable wallet standard forms the foundation for all identity exchanges.
Governance under eIDAS 2.0 is a shared responsibility. The European Commission manages the legal framework and adopts implementing acts that contain the legally binding requirements. EU Member States provide or mandate wallet solutions, certify and notify them, and supervise actors within their jurisdiction. The European Digital Identity Cooperation Group supports cooperation and cross-border alignment. National competent authorities, wallet providers, issuers of Person Identification Data and attestations, qualified trust service providers, and relying parties each carry distinct obligations within this structure. No single central European authority operationally manages all EUDI Wallets.
For travel and border control, this is a meaningful shift. Border agencies, airlines, and transport operators can now rely on a standardized format for digital identity data, removing the need to accommodate dozens of different national systems. The verification process becomes faster, more consistent, and significantly less prone to fraud.
How will the EUDI Wallet be used at European borders?
At European borders, the EUDI Wallet will allow travelers to present Digital Travel Credentials directly from their smartphone, replacing or supplementing physical passports and identity documents. The wallet stores verified identity data, including passport information and biometrics, in a secure digital format that border control systems at airports, ports, and land crossings can read.
One of the four large-scale pilot programs that tested the EUDI Wallet was the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC), which focused on Digital Travel Credentials, payments, and organisational digital identity. This consortium built on the reference wallet application to enable travel-related use cases across Member States, testing how travelers could move through airport security and customs by presenting digital travel documents from their wallet. These pilots have now concluded, and their findings are feeding into the final technical specifications for the live rollout.
In practice, a traveler arriving at an airport could:
- Open their EUDI Wallet app on their phone
- Present a digitally verified version of their passport or national ID
- Share only the data the border authority needs, such as nationality and travel document validity
- Complete the identity check without handing over a physical document
The wallet is designed around data minimization. Travelers share only what is necessary for a given interaction, which protects personal privacy while still meeting the verification requirements of border control authorities.
Verification by a border authority involves more than a single cryptographic check. A compliant relying party performs three distinct steps: verifying the issuer’s signature against the relevant national trusted list, which is part of the EU List of Trusted Lists (LOTL); checking the revocation status of the attestation using the issuer’s status information; and validating the wallet unit attestation to confirm that the presenting wallet runs on a certified wallet solution. Only the first of these steps can take place fully offline.
Does eIDAS 2.0 replace the physical passport for EU travel?
No, eIDAS 2.0 does not replace the physical passport for EU travel, at least not immediately. The EUDI Wallet introduces Digital Travel Credentials as a complement to existing physical documents. Whether digital credentials can fully replace a physical passport depends on national legislation, international aviation standards, and bilateral agreements with non-EU countries.
Within the EU, the regulatory framework is moving toward accepting digital identity as legally equivalent to physical documents for many purposes. International travel outside the EU still depends on ICAO standards for travel documents, which currently require a physical passport. The EUDI Wallet pilots explored how digital credentials can work alongside existing systems, and that transitional model is expected to continue in the near term.
For intra-EU travel and border crossings between Member States, the picture is more promising. As digital infrastructure matures and national systems align with the EUDI Wallet standard, digital travel credentials are expected to become a fully accepted means of identification at EU borders. Practical interoperability and the availability of specific cross-border use cases will develop in phases, and the pace of rollout will vary between Member States. Organizations in the travel sector should plan for a transitional period where both physical and digital credentials are valid and where not every use case will be available in every country simultaneously.
Which sectors and use cases benefit most from eIDAS 2.0 in travel?
The travel and transport sector stands to benefit significantly from eIDAS 2.0, and the gains extend well beyond border agencies. Airlines, airports, rail operators, car rental companies, hotels, and any organization that needs to verify a traveler’s identity can streamline their processes using EUDI Wallet credentials.
The large-scale pilots tested a specific travel use case: presenting information from travel documents such as passports and visas to enable quick access when going through airport security and customs. This points to a near-term opportunity for airports and airlines to integrate wallet-based verification into check-in and boarding processes, once the necessary national rollouts and interoperability arrangements are in place.
Beyond the obvious travel checkpoints, several adjacent sectors also benefit:
- Financial services: Travelers opening accounts or accessing banking services abroad can use their wallet for reusable identity verification. The extent to which previously completed KYC checks can be reused is governed by AML legislation, not by eIDAS 2.0 itself. National registration requirements and sector-specific legislation continue to apply, and relying parties must register within the applicable national framework under CIR (EU) 2025/848.
- Healthcare: The European Health Insurance Card can be stored in the wallet, making it easier for travelers to access medical services in other Member States.
- Telecommunications: SIM card registration with foreign providers becomes faster and more secure with wallet-based identity proof.
- Car rental and mobility: The mobile driving license use case, also piloted under the POTENTIAL consortium, allows travelers to present a verified digital license rather than a physical one.
Organizations in financial services and healthcare that serve travelers internationally are particularly well-positioned to benefit from early adoption of wallet-compatible identity verification.
What do organizations in travel and transport need to do to comply?
Organizations in travel and transport need to assess their current identity verification processes and determine where EUDI Wallet credentials will need to be accepted, integrated, or recognized. The compliance timeline differs between public and private organizations, and the specific obligations depend on the sector and the context in which identity verification takes place.
The practical steps for organizations include:
- Mapping identity touchpoints: Identify every point in the customer or traveler journey where identity is verified, from check-in to boarding to car rental pickup.
- Evaluating technical readiness: Assess whether existing systems can read and verify EUDI Wallet credentials, and identify integration gaps.
- Understanding the relying party role: Under eIDAS 2.0, organizations that accept wallet credentials are classified as relying parties and must meet specific technical and legal requirements. Under CIR (EU) 2025/848, adopted on 6 May 2025, a relying party must register with the national authority of its Member State of establishment before requesting wallet data. Registration covers the intended use and the specific attributes and attestations the relying party will request. The wallet checks each presentation request against this registered scope. A relying party must be able to accept every relevant notified wallet, regardless of which wallet provider issued it.
- Following the Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF): The ARF provides the technical elaboration of the requirements set out in the implementing acts. The implementing acts are legally binding; the ARF translates those requirements into technical specifications. Staying aligned with both is essential for interoperability and compliance.
- Engaging with pilot outcomes: The large-scale pilots collected real-world feedback on wallet usability and security. Organizations should monitor and apply these insights to their own implementation planning.
Government agencies involved in border control should also coordinate closely with national eID authorities and national competent authorities to ensure their systems align with the interoperability requirements set out in eIDAS 2.0. Public bodies and public service providers are required to accept notified EUDI Wallets as a means of identification from 24 December 2026. Organizations in the government sector have a particularly central role in making digital border control a reality.
When will eIDAS 2.0 changes affect travel across Europe?
There are two key deadlines that organizations in travel and transport need to understand. By 24 December 2026, every EU Member State must have at least one certified EUDI Wallet operational and available to citizens, residents, and businesses. Public bodies and public service providers must accept notified wallets as a means of identification from that date. For regulated private organizations in the transport sector and other regulated industries, including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, energy, education, social security, drinking water, postal services, digital infrastructure, and digital services, the obligation to accept EUDI Wallet credentials under Article 5f of the regulation applies from 24 December 2027, within the context where strong user authentication is legally or contractually required. Very large online platforms with more than 45 million users in the EU fall under a separate provision of Article 5f: for those platforms, the obligation applies where the platform requires user authentication, on a voluntary basis at the user’s request and limited to the minimum necessary data. Micro and small enterprises, defined as organizations with fewer than 50 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than 10 million euros, are exempt from the Article 5f acceptance obligation.
It is important to distinguish between the legal deadline and the practical reality of national rollout. 24 December 2026 is the date by which Member States must meet their wallet obligations under the regulation. It does not mean that every national wallet will have reached the same level of maturity, that every possible cross-border use case will be fully operational throughout Europe on that date, or that certification and notification processes will be complete in every country simultaneously. Practical interoperability and the availability of specific use cases will develop in phases across Member States. Organizations should not wait for a single European go-live moment, but should engage with national developments and pilot outcomes as they emerge.
The four large-scale pilot projects, which involved over 350 entities from 26 Member States plus Norway, Iceland, and Ukraine, ran from April 2023 through 2025 and have now concluded. The insights gathered from those pilots are feeding directly into the final technical specifications and security standards that will underpin the live rollout. A second wave of pilots started in 2025, including APTITUDE, which covers travel, ticketing, vehicle registration, and payments, and WE BUILD, which focuses on business wallets and payments.
For travel organizations, the practical timeline looks like this: eIDAS 2.0 entered into force on 20 May 2024, with the first implementing acts covering technical specifications, security standards, and interoperability rules adopted by the end of 2024. A second wave of implementing acts followed in 2025, covering areas such as qualified electronic archiving, validation, certificates, and qualified trust service providers. CIR (EU) 2025/848 on relying party registration was adopted on 6 May 2025. Wallet availability and public-sector acceptance becomes mandatory on 24 December 2026, and the acceptance obligation for regulated private parties in the relevant sectors follows on 24 December 2027. Widespread traveler adoption will grow as awareness increases, national rollouts mature, and the user experience improves. Organizations that start their integration planning now will be in a far stronger position than those that wait.
How TrustTech helps with eIDAS 2.0 and digital identity in travel
Navigating the shift to digital identity in travel touches compliance, customer experience, cross-border interoperability, and organizational readiness all at once. The ID Connector is an integration that lets relying parties accept every certified European wallet, whatever Member State issued it, for identification, login and qualified signing. EUDI Wallet acceptance comes first; the same interface also carries other IDs, such as national eIDs, bank IDs and identity documents, inside and outside the EU.
With the ID Connector, organizations in travel, transport, government, and regulated industries can:
- Accept EUDI Wallet credentials in line with eIDAS 2.0 relying party requirements, including verification against national trusted lists and the EU List of Trusted Lists
- Perform the three required verification steps: issuer signature verification, revocation status checking, and wallet unit attestation validation
- Enforce the registered attribute scope per intended use, so that each presentation request stays within what the relying party has registered under CIR (EU) 2025/848
- Enable reusable, tamper-evident identity checks that reduce friction at every traveler touchpoint
- Connect identity verification and qualified signing in a single platform built for EU compliance, with qualified signing handled via a connected qualified trust service provider
- Stay aligned with the implementing acts and the Architecture and Reference Framework as specifications evolve
Whether you are an airport operator preparing to accept digital travel credentials, a transport company integrating mobile driving license verification, a financial services provider serving travelers across borders, or a government agency modernizing border control systems, the ID Connector provides the infrastructure to make it work. Explore our digital identity solutions or get in touch with our team to discuss how your organization can prepare for eIDAS 2.0 and the future of identity in travel.