As we start a new year, it is time to look back on what was achieved in 2017 and look ahead to what is to come in 2018.

2017 has been an intense year for eIDAS. A lot has happened, in particular during the last months.

On 24 November, Italy pre-notified its eID-scheme SPID (Sistema Pubblico per la gestione dell'Identità Digitale). Italy is the second country to pre-notify its eID-scheme, after Germany, whose notification process was successfully completed on 26 September 2017.

As Vice-President Ansip wrote in his blog, Italy's pre-notification is of great importance, as Italy is the first country to pre-notify an eID-scheme which is led by the private sector. It shows that both private and public sectors have an important role to play in building a secure EU-wide environment for electronic identification (eID), At the same time, Vice-President Ansip continues to call upon the other Member States to accelerate the pre-notifications of  their national eID schemes in view of September 2018 deadline. It is encouraging to see that Italy already puts the commitment made in October's Tallinn Declaration on e-government into action. This was when EU and EFTA ministers in charge of e-government policy and coordination agreed to increase uptake of national eID schemes and to enable the private sector to make use of them. This will certainly bring many benefits in a wide array of sectors. Much wider than the public services only.

One of the sectors in which eIDAS can make a difference is the financial sector. eIDAS could facilitate financial institutions to identify customers digitally for on-boarding purposes. To further explore how to facilitate the cross-border use of eID and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) portability based on identification and authentication tools under eIDAS a new expert group was established. The group will be composed of up to 36 members comprising regulators, supervisors, identity experts, financial institutions as understood for compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, as well as consumer organisations. 21 members of the group will come from existing consultative structures  while the remaining 15 places will be filled through a call for applications (open until 26 January) for financial institutions and consumer organisations.

But the expert group does not have to start from scratch. A first positive impetus was already given on 20 December, when the political agreement by the co-legislators was reached on the revised Anti-Money Laundering Directive. This is good news for eIDAS, because the agreed text makes explicit reference to eIDAS notified eID means as a possible way to fulfil KYC/customer due diligence requirements for non-face-to-face interactions. In addition, a reference to electronic trust services under eIDAS is also made in the agreed text. These references to eIDAS in the text matter, because the inclusion of eIDAS notified eID means will facilitate the cross border use of eID means for meeting the requirements of Anti-Money Laundering Directive in fully digital on-boarding processes. Also, this will positively contribute to the work of the new expert group.

Reference to eIDAS was also made in relation to another important sector specific legislation. On 27 November the Commission adopted the Delegated Regulation on Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication under the Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The RTS was based on the draft submitted by the European Banking Authority. Also in this sector specific legislation reference is made to both eIDAS notified eID means and trust services. eIDAS notified eID means are referenced as a possible solution for strong customer authentication. Furthermore, qualified electronic seals or qualified website authentication certificates are now mandatory for the communication between payment providers.

As eIDAS is increasingly being rolled in different sectors, the EU keeps supporting Member States in their eIDAS efforts. One example of such support is the funding made available through the Connecting Europe Facility. Thirteen proposals were selected for funding under the 2017 CEF eID call, which aims to support the integration of eID and eSignature Digital Service Infrastructures (DSIs) in an existing e-service, system or online platform. The activities funded relate to eID DSI integration, eIDAS node set up and eIDAS enabled Erasmus Student eCard. Also, the Council adopted a general approach on the proposal for a Regulation on establishing a Single Digital Gateway. The draft Regulation - in its article 12 - sets out the basic principles for cross-border implementation of the Once-Only-Principle, which allows European people and businesses to request that the information that they have already provided to their national administration be electronically transferred to a public administration in another Member State whenever such information is needed for an administrative procedure. The proposal has a direct link to eIDAS, because in order to rely on the Once-Only-Principle, it should be possible to use nationally recognised eIDs across borders.

 Furthermore, in December the event 'Connecting Europe with Building Blocks: Making the Digital Single Market a Reality' took place, which was opened by an inspiring keynote speech by our Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel. This event showcased concrete examples of how the CEF building blocks successfully contribute to creating a Digital Single Market. This event illustrated how the building blocks facilitate the creation of cross-border digital public services and related benefits for citizens, businesses and public administrations. It also offered a unique forum for discussion on future CEF building blocks and remaining challenges to be addressed.

And what is yet to come?

2018 promises to be an interesting year for the roll-out of eIDAS.

First of all, we can look forward to more pre-notifications, as a number of Member States has expressed strong commitment to pre-notify their eID schemes in 2018.

The Commission will continue its work in accelerating the uptake of eIDAS in relevant sectors. In 2018 the European Parliament and the Council are expected to formally endorse the agreed text for the revised Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Also, the first meeting of the new expert group on electronic identification and remote KYC processes will soon be convened.

Furthermore, following the workshop on "Principles and Guidance on ID interoperability for Online Platforms – Finalisation and way ahead" in November, we are currently working on a revised version of the principles, that will soon be published for further consultation.

Also, a political agreement on the proposal for a Regulation on establishing a Single Digital Gateway is expected in the course of the year. Then, the activity to operationalise the Once-Only Principle will start, in particular by drawing on the results of the TOOP Project funded under H2020 to demonstrate the once-only principle across borders.

Last but not least, from 29 September 2018 onwards the mandatory recognition of notified eID schemes under art. 6 eIDAS applies.

We are looking forward to working with you to make 2018 a year full of achievements for eIDAS!