{"id":453584,"date":"2025-09-26T20:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T20:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/453584\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T20:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T20:11:17","slug":"starmers-id-plan-has-caused-upset-but-in-the-eu-the-debate-has-long-been-settled-identity-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/453584\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer\u2019s ID plan has caused upset, but in the EU the debate has long been settled | Identity cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the continent, the debate raging in the UK over national ID cards has long been settled. Across Europe<\/a>, physical identity cards have existed for decades, and digital versions have either already been successfully launched or are being trialled.<\/p>\n

In all bar two of the EU\u2019s 27 member states, physical ID cards<\/a>, in a standard, machine-readable EU format introduced in 2021, are used both as identity documents in citizens\u2019 home countries, and for travel within the passport-free Schengen zone.<\/p>\n

In 15 countries they are compulsory: you must have one, although you are not necessarily obliged to have it with you. In another 11, they are voluntary: other forms of photo ID, such as driving licences, are accepted as identification.<\/p>\n

The size of a credit card, they display the holder\u2019s name, address, nationality, date and place of birth, sex and height, as well as a photo and the card\u2019s issue and expiry dates. A secure chip also stores data including the photo and fingerprints.<\/p>\n

The two exceptions are Denmark, which issues physical ID cards locally, and Ireland \u2013 but along with all other EU member states, both those countries have already either launched, or are developing, a form of digital ID wallet, and Ireland has already issued passport cards.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s eIDAS 2.0 regulation will require every citizen of the bloc to be offered at least one digital ID wallet, allowing them to prove who they are and to safely store, share and sign important digital documents \u2013 such as their digital ID, birth certificate, passport, student card, qualifications, driver\u2019s licence and tax details \u2013 by 2026.<\/p>\n

Some countries have gone further, faster. In Denmark, life online is almost impossible without MitID, a digital identity app for smartphones or tablets introduced in 2023 as a public-private partnership between banks, insurers and the digitisation ministry.<\/p>\n

You need it log into banking websites, sign up for the main payment system, shop online, access the government information and services portal, deal with your taxes, make a health appointment or view your pension online and apply for a college course.<\/p>\n

Estonians, likewise, use their almost 20-year-old e-ID (also available, if much less commonly, in card form), to vote, digitally sign documents and access public services from healthcare to education, as well as for banking and online shopping.<\/p>\n

Countries with well-developed digital identities \u2013 including war-torn Ukraine, where the Diia app<\/a> allows people to store 14 important digital documents <\/strong>and access 21 services \u2013 argue that they modernise and streamline public services. Estonia claims e-ID saves citizens about five days a year of pre-digital administrative hassle.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to This is Europe<\/p>\n

The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans \u2013 from identity to economics to the environment<\/p>\n

Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n

Within the EU, opposition to the bloc\u2019s planned digital ID wallet<\/a> has so far been restricted mainly to ensuring that potential privacy loopholes are safely closed off. Countries that already operate digital IDs have reported no major security issues.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, many digital IDs have proved highly popular. Poland\u2019s mObywatel<\/a>, available since 2017, recently passed the milestone of 10 million active users \u2013 a third of the country\u2019s adult population \u2013 with more than 1 million people using it daily.<\/p>\n

Users log into the app for the first time by confirming their identity either through their electronic banking service (without accessing any financial data), by using a digitally enabled physical ID card or through a special \u201ctrusted profile\u201d online.<\/p>\n

They can then produce a digital version of their ID card, check the points on their driving licence, see local air quality and find or change their polling station. They can report lost documents and verify someone else\u2019s ID by scanning a QR code in the app.<\/p>\n

A recently added tool also allows drivers to notify insurers of a collision, confirming their ID and submitting evidence, and this month student IDs for high school pupils were added so they can use the app to get discounts on public transport and museums.<\/p>\n

The app also guides users on how to take a photo for their documents, without having to go to a professional photographer or booth. From December, a virtual AI assistant is due to begin helping people navigate various bureaucratic processes in the app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the continent, the debate raging in the UK over national ID cards has long been settled. Across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699],"class_list":{"0":"post-453584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115272422826865870","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}