Support to the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets

This EU grant opportunity focuses on supporting the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets as part of the Digital Europe Programme. The call, identified as DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09, opened for submissions on October 9, 2025, with a deadline set for December 9, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The total budget for this initiative is €10 million, intended to support approximately 2 grants, each expected to amount to around €5 million.

The grant aims to extend the work of existing Large-Scale Pilots previously selected under the Digital Europe Work Programme 2023-2024, specifically targeting the call topic DIGITAL-2024-BESTUSE-TECH-06-TRUST. This additional funding supports the development, certification, conformance testing, and issuance of EU Digital Identity Wallets by Member States, helping them fulfill their regulatory obligations by the end of 2026.

Eligible applicants include consortia that involve public administrations, private sector entities, and other ecosystem participants involved in digital identity solutions within EU Member States and associated countries. The focus is particularly on the ICT sector, emphasizing areas such as digital identity, trust services, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure.

The funding is structured as a monetary grant, following a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based model. Application procedures are outlined to ensure compliance, with a single-stage submission required. Applicants will be evaluated against specified criteria related to excellence, impact, and quality of implementation.

The overarching goal is to advance digital infrastructure across Europe, ensuring all citizens have access to secure and privacy-preserving identity solutions, and meeting the EU's Digital Decade ambitions. The initiative also encourages collaboration among Member States and associated countries to create a unified and globally recognized EU Digital Identity Wallet.

Key features include:
- **Funding Details**: Total budget of €10 million, with 2 grants expected.
- **Targeted Consortia**: Focus on existing Large-Scale Pilots and diverse organizational types including SMEs, large enterprises, and research institutions.
- **Project Activities**: Emphasis on the development, certification, and conformance testing of digital identity wallets.
- **Application Process**: Open call with electronic submissions and a defined timeframe for proposals.

This initiative represents a significant investment in Europe's digital identity infrastructure, aimed at streamlining identification processes and enhancing security while ensuring user privacy.

This EU grant opportunity, under the Digital Europe Programme, aims to accelerate the best use of technologies by supporting the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets. The call, DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09, is a DIGITAL-SIMPLE DIGITAL Simple Grant, utilizing a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based model grant agreement. The call opened for submissions on October 9, 2025, with a deadline of December 9, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome of this call is to support the development of certified, production-ready EU Digital Identity Wallets, particularly targeting the Large-Scale Pilots selected from the Digital Europe Work Programme 2023-2024 (call topic DIGITAL-2024-BESTUSE-TECH-06-TRUST). The Work Programme 2025-2027 provides additional funding for the consortia selected under that call to expand the scope of their work to include the development, certification, conformance testing, and issuance of EU Digital Identity Wallets by Member States. To ensure rapid deployment and meet the regulatory issuance deadline of wallets by the end of 2026, eligible costs may be incurred by beneficiaries from the day of proposal submission.

The objective is to facilitate the effective implementation of the European Digital Identity Regulation, ensuring Member States provide a harmonized EU Digital Identity Wallet by the end of 2026, fulfilling their legal obligations and the Digital Decade Target. It also aims for rapid adoption of the EU Digital Identity Wallet by citizens, public institutions, and businesses, showcasing it as a global benchmark. Funding is also available for countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme to implement wallets based on EU Digital Identity Wallet technical specifications, supporting international acceptance, particularly in areas like travel.

The scope of the call focuses on supporting the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets, including support for development, conformance testing, and preparation of national certification schemes.

Supported digital service infrastructures to facilitate European cross-border digital transactions include: European Digital Identity and Trust Services Ecosystem Gateways, eID Component, EU Digital Identity Wallet, eDelivery, and eSignature.

The call has two specific topics:

DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-MDL, with a budget of 5,000,000 EUR, aiming for around 3 grants.

DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-WALLET, with a budget of 10,000,000 EUR, aiming for around 2 grants.

Conditions for application include:

Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout, as described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.

Eligible Countries: Described in section 6 of the call document.

Other Eligible Conditions: Described in section 6 of the call document.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: Described in section 7 of the call document.

Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes, as described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.

Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds, as described in section 9 of the call document.

Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement, as described in section 4 of the call document.

Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Described in section 10 of the call document.

Relevant documents include the Call Document, standard application form (DEP), Model Grant Agreements (MGA) including the DEP MGA, DEP Work Programmes, DEP Regulation 2021/964, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

There are 8 partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests.

The Electronic Submission Service can be accessed via the submission button, selecting the appropriate action type and model grant agreement.

This funding opportunity is designed to bolster the EU's digital infrastructure by supporting the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets. It targets Large-Scale Pilots and aims to facilitate the transition to the new European Digital Identity Framework. The grant supports activities such as development, conformance testing, and preparation of national certification schemes for digital identity wallets. The ultimate goal is to ensure that European citizens have access to secure and interoperable digital identification solutions, aligning with the Digital Decade goals and promoting the widespread adoption of digital identity across various sectors. The call encourages collaboration among Member States and associated countries to create a harmonized and globally recognized EU Digital Identity Wallet.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, based on the context of the Digital Europe Programme and the focus on EU Digital Identity Wallets, eligible applicants could include public administrations, private sector entities (especially providers of electronic signatures and trust services), companies, and other eco-system participants involved in digital identity solutions. Large-Scale Pilots selected from the Digital Europe Work Programme 2023-2024 (call topic DIGITAL-2024-BESTUSE-TECH-06-TRUST) are specifically targeted.

Funding Type: The funding type is a DIGITAL Simple Grant, as indicated by "DIGITAL-SIMPLE DIGITAL Simple Grants" and "DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG]".

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the complexity and scope of developing and certifying EU Digital Identity Wallets, consortia are likely favored, especially considering the involvement of multiple Member States and eco-system participants. The mention of "8 Searches of partners to collaborate on this topic" suggests that consortia are expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States and countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme. The goal is to provide 100% of European citizens with access to digital identification, and the action aims to support countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme to implement Wallets based on the EU Digital Identity Wallet technical specifications.

Target Sector: The target sector is ICT, specifically focusing on digital identity, trust services, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure. The program targets the development, certification, and deployment of EU Digital Identity Wallets, eID, eSignature, eDelivery, and related technologies.

Mentioned Countries: The text explicitly mentions EU Member States and countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme.

Project Stage: The project stage is primarily development, certification, and deployment. The call aims to support the development and certification of EU Digital Identity Wallets, conformance testing, and preparation of national certification schemes. It builds on existing technical specifications, reference implementations, and results from Large Scale Pilots, suggesting a move from research and validation to demonstration and commercialization.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic. For DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-MDL, the budget is EUR 5,000,000, with an indicative number of 3 grants. For DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-WALLET, the budget is EUR 10,000,000, with an indicative number of 2 grants.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by "Open For Submission". The deadline model is single-stage.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants to support the development, certification, and deployment of EU Digital Identity Wallets.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage, as indicated by "Deadline modelsingle-stage".

Success Rates: The success rates cannot be determined from the provided text. The indicative number of grants (2-3 per topic) provides some context, but the total number of applications is unknown.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) aimed at supporting the development, certification, and deployment of EU Digital Identity Wallets. The call, titled "Accelerating the Best Use of Technologies (DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09)", targets Large-Scale Pilots selected from the Digital Europe Work Programme 2023-2024 and provides additional funding for consortia to expand their work on EU Digital Identity Wallets. The primary objective is to facilitate the effective implementation of the European Digital Identity Regulation and ensure that Member States provide a harmonized EU Digital Identity Wallet by the end of 2026.

The call focuses on supporting the development, conformance testing, and preparation of national certification schemes for EU Digital Identity Wallets. It builds upon existing digital service infrastructures such as European Digital Identity and Trust Services Ecosystem Gateways, eID Component, eDelivery, and eSignature. The action aims to promote interoperability, accessibility, and the rapid adoption of EU Digital Identity Wallets by citizens, public institutions, and businesses.

Eligible applicants likely include public administrations, private sector entities, and other eco-system participants involved in digital identity solutions from EU Member States and countries associated with the Digital Europe Programme. The funding is provided through DIGITAL Simple Grants, with budgets of EUR 5,000,000 for DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-MDL and EUR 10,000,000 for DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-TECH-09-WALLET. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of December 9, 2025.

In essence, this call is a strategic initiative by the European Commission to accelerate the rollout and adoption of EU Digital Identity Wallets across Europe, aligning with the Digital Decade goals and ensuring that European citizens have secure and seamless access to digital identification for various business applications and public services. It is a crucial step towards establishing a robust and interoperable digital identity framework within the EU.