German Authorities Handover German eID Authorisation Certificate to the Commission
Symbolic handover between representatives of the Commission and Federal Office for Administration
On 24 January 2019, Gertrud Ingestad, Director General at the European Commission's Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) and members of the DIGIT Senior Management Team and Directorate D (Digital Services) met with a delegation from the German Federal Office for Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt), led by BVA Vice-President Ms Silvia Bechtold, in Brussels, Belgium.
The BVA delegation came to mark symbolically the handover of the German eID authorisation certificate to DIGIT, during the summer of 2018.
The eIDAS Regulation (on electronic identification and trust services in the internal market) mandates for the mutual recognition of notified national identification schemes (eID) allowing citizens of one European country to use their national eIDs to securely access online/digital government services provided in other European countries.
Since 29 September 2018, all online services requiring electronic identification to login must accept the notified eID schemes of the other EU countries. In 2018, Germany was the first Member State to notify their national eID. Thanks to the eIDAS interoperability framework and the handover of the authorisation certificate, EU Login, the Commission’s authentication solution, is able to accept German eIDs as a means to connect to EU applications and websites.
The interconnection of eIDs between EU Member States has the power to advance the ability of citizens, professionals and administrators fundamentally in both providing and accessing services throughout Europe. Both the BVA and DIGIT share the mission of ensuring efficient and secure digital transformation of wider administrations.
Gertrud Ingestad and Silvia Bechtold
Via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) eID Building Block, the European Commission supports the Member States in the roll-out of the eIDAS Network (the technical infrastructure which connects national eID schemes). Service Providers (public administrations and private sector organisations) may then connect their services to this network, making these services accessible across borders and allowing them to enjoy the legal recognition brought by eIDAS.
During the meeting, Gertrud Ingestad, with the relevant colleagues from DIGIT and BVA delegation, discussed the common challenges of leading the digitalisation of public administration. During the discussion, the participants noted that digitalisation is at its most efficient when undertaken by organisations working together, across borders.
Gertrud noted that the Commission very much appreciates the desire of the German administration to use digital means to support better governance at the local, regional, national and European level. Ms Silvia Bechtold thanked DIGIT and the Commission at large for its drive in ever more efficient public administration.
Klaus Wolter (Head of Unit authorisation certificates, global lockdown service, BVA), Emanuele Baldacci (Director Directorate Digital Services, DIGIT), Philipp Marks (Head of the Digital Transformation Unit, BVA), Gertrud Ingestad (Director General, DIGIT), Silvia Bechtold (Vice-President, BVA), Mario Campolargo (Deputy Director General, DIGIT), Birgit Frieler-Woll (Head of International Affairs Unit, BVA), Jeroen Rathe (Head of Sector Digital Identity and Signatures Services, DIGIT);