The Italian government wants other EU Member States to test and accredit its SPID eID system. Italy started the peer-review process on 11 December, presenting SPID in a meeting at the European Commission in Brussels.
EU Member States are invited to test Italy’s SPID (Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale, or the public system for digital identity management) over the next three months. If the review is successful, the system will be officially announced, and EU Member States will have one year to recognise the use of SPID for their own eGovernment services.
“Italy took an important step,” said the European Commission in an announcement. “In an increasingly digital society it is important that citizens and businesses trust their digital interactions, also in cross-border situations.”
In a blog post, European Commissioner for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip called Italy’s peer review start “great news”. Ansip says it is significant that SPID is led by Italy's private sector; “It shows that both private and public sectors have an important role to play in building a secure EU-wide environment for eID, one whose national systems are mutually recognised.”
Italy is the second EU Member State to take this step. Germany requested a peer review of its electronic ID card in February. The second step, official notification, was published in September. This means that by September 2018, all EU Member States are obliged to allow the use of German eID for the their online services. Private services within the EU may recognise the German eID on a voluntary basis.
More information:
Announcement by AGID (in Italian)
Announcement by the European Commission
European Commission Vice President Ansip's blog on the pre-notification of Italy's eID scheme
Germany’s eIDAS notification