Ireland's EU presidency pushes for a continent-wide digital identity wallet by year-end

Ireland’s current term presiding over the Council of the EU includes a key objective: delivering an EU Digital Identity Wallet for every citizen and enterprise by December, as part of the Digital Decade Policy Programme. While the technical building blocks—wallets, data spaces and cloud platforms—already exist, the main obstacle is aligning 27 diverse national systems and fostering cross-border trust. To address this, Ireland will host the inaugural Meitheal Digiteach on 19-20 November at the refurbished Drogheda Civic Offices.

The workshop departs from conventional conferences, offering a flat, participatory format that unites policymakers, local authorities, data architects and engineers. Participants will work on linking digital public services such as mortgage approvals, health records and planning applications, applying the “only once” principle so users are not repeatedly asked for the same information. The initiative draws on the historic Irish concept of meitheal, a communal effort based on reciprocity, to inspire cooperation across Europe’s digital transformation agenda.