Notified eID Scheme

A Notified eID Scheme is a national electronic identification scheme that has been formally notified by a Member State to the European Commission under the eIDAS regulation. The notification process involves a peer review by other Member States and the Commission, examining the scheme's compliance with the technical specifications and assurance levels defined in the regulation. Once a scheme is notified, all other Member States are legally obligated to recognise and accept the electronic identification means issued under that scheme for cross-border access to public services at the notified Level of Assurance.

The notification specifies the assurance level (low, substantial, or high) at which the scheme operates, and the receiving Member State must accept it for services that require that level or lower. The mutual recognition mechanism is implemented through a network of eIDAS nodes, which are technical gateways that translate between different national eID protocols and formats to enable cross-border authentication. Under eIDAS 2.

0, the notified eID scheme framework is supplemented by the EUDIW, which provides a more direct and standardised approach to cross-border identification. However, notified schemes remain valid and relevant during the transition period and beyond. Member States that have invested in robust national eID systems (such as Estonia's ID card, Belgium's itsme, or Italy's SPID) will continue to operate these alongside the wallet.

For organisations, particularly those providing public services to cross-border users, understanding notified eID schemes remains important. While the wallet will eventually become the primary cross-border identity channel, the existing eIDAS node infrastructure and notified schemes will coexist for a transition period, and relying parties may need to support both channels during this time.