Holders of Maltese e-ID cards will be able to use them to obtain public services from other EU member states under a new European Commission proposal.

Benefits include savings of time and money as well as more legal certainty

The Commission wants to have national e-identification systems recognised across all 27 member states.

Introduced a number of years ago, the local e-ID system permits Maltese residents to obtain important services ranging from birth and marriage certificates to paying income tax, at the click of a button.

The EU now wants to strengthen the use of this new tool by making it easier to obtain services from one member state to another, such as public procurement, social services or filing of tax returns.

The draft regulation, which has still to be approved by member states and the European Parliament, is one of the 12 actions to boost the Single Market Act announced last year.

The aim of the proposal is to contribute to the development of the digital single market. Cross-border digital identification would offer many benefits including savings of time and money as well as more legal certainty.

“People and businesses should be able to transact within a borderless digital single marke old a press conference.

“Legal certainty and trust are essential, so a more comprehensive e-signatures and e-identification regulation is needed,” she said. For cross-border e-identification, the Commission is proposing to apply the principle of mutual recognition whereby a member state recognises and accepts the national e-identification systems officially notified to the Commission by the other member states.

Making sure not to convey the wrong message on the issue of ID cards, a very sensitive one in certain member states, a Commission official underlined that the proposal does not set any standards for setting up a European e-identification system.

He stressed that member states will not be obliged to use this type of online identification as identity remains a national competence.

However, those countries that already adopt an e-ID system will now be able to opt into a more European system thus offering more services to their citizens.