Tvarka Sign and electronic signatures

The EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI): what it changes for signing

What the EUDI wallet is, the honest state of the rollout, and what it will mean for qualified electronic signatures across the EU.

Updated: 2026-08-28 Query: EU digital identity wallet EUDI qualified electronic signature free when launch member states

One wallet, twenty-seven countries

The EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI) is a state-recognised app that holds your government-backed identity on your phone. The amended eIDAS Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 obliges every EU Member State to offer at least one wallet to its residents.

The wallet works the same way across the EU: logging in to public and private services, proving who you are, and signing with a qualified electronic signature. It replaces a patchwork of national schemes with one standard, which is exactly what makes it matter for cross-border business.

The rollout, honestly

Member States must offer wallets by the end of 2026. As of this guide's update date, no wallet anywhere in the EU had been certified under the new scheme yet; several countries run national wallets or pilots ahead of certification. Lithuania has tested a prototype and is building its national test environment, with the enabling legislation scheduled for autumn 2026.

From late 2027, services that are legally required to identify users strongly – banks, telecoms, transport and other regulated sectors – must accept the wallet. Using it stays voluntary for the person: existing login and signing methods remain.

What changes for signatures

Wallets must let natural persons sign with qualified electronic signatures free of charge by default; a Member State may limit the free use to non-professional purposes. The legal effect does not change: a qualified signature equals a handwritten one across the whole EU, exactly as it does today.

The output formats do not change either. A signature created through a wallet is the same standard qualified signature (PAdES, XAdES, ASiC) that authorities and courts already accept, so anything built on the standard formats keeps working.

Where Tvarka stands

Tvarka already supports all five signature formats that public sector bodies must recognise from 2027 under Regulation (EU) 2026/248, so wallet-created signatures will verify in Tvarka document flows the same way today's signatures do.

Once certified wallets ship and qualified trust service providers offer signing through them, we plan to add the wallet as one more signing method alongside Smart-ID, Mobile-ID, USB/eID and NFC. A Lithuanian document can already be signed with a qualified signature today, including with the Lithuanian ID card held against a phone.

How we are prepared, and what we can already demonstrate with the EU reference components, is set out on our readiness page at /en/eu-readiness/.

This is not individual legal or tax advice. Before deciding on a specific transaction, tax situation or dispute, assess your own circumstances.

Frequently asked questions

Will the EUDI wallet replace Smart-ID or Mobile-ID?

No. Wallet use is voluntary under the Regulation, so services have to keep alternatives. The existing qualified signing methods continue to work.

When do the wallets actually arrive?

The legal deadline for Member States is the end of 2026. As of this guide's update date no wallet had been certified under the new scheme yet, so expect national launches through late 2026 and 2027, at different speeds in different countries.

Will signing with the wallet be free?

For natural persons, yes by default: wallets must offer qualified signing free of charge, though a Member State may limit that to non-professional use. Business signing terms will depend on the providers.

I do business with Lithuania but hold no Lithuanian eID. Does this help me?

Eventually, yes. A wallet issued by your own Member State is designed to be accepted cross-border, which should make signing Lithuanian documents possible without any Lithuanian credential. Until then, ask the Lithuanian side which signing methods the ceremony offers.

Is this individual legal advice?

No. This is not individual legal advice. The rollout is in motion; for a specific transaction, check the current implementation state and the law that applies to it.

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