Maltese residents to use eID in EU Countries in 2022
Malta's e-ID system passed rigorous testing and achieved the highest level of security assurance recognised by the EU. Identity Malta CEO Anton Sevasta told the media on Tuesday that Malta’s e-ID is in the process of receiving official notification by the European Commission’s key enabler for secure cross-border transactions, eIDAS. The recently launched Maltese e-ID card and e-residence documents were designed to enable this interoperability from the very start.
Malta's e-ID system passed 'rigorous' testing and achieved the highest level of security assurance recognised by the EU. Identity Malta CEO Anton Sevasta told the media on Tuesday that Malta’s e-ID is in the process of receiving official notification by the European Commission’s key enabler for secure cross-border transactions, eIDAS. The recently launched Maltese e-ID card and e-residence documents were designed to enable this interoperability from the very start.
This will soon enable Maltese e-ID users to access a wider range of online services in other EU countries."People are increasingly choosing to spend some time living and working in EU countries, and this will benefit them greatly," Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat said.
According to Muscat, this would lead to the further reduction of bureaucracy.
"We are not only reducing unnecessary processes internally, but we are also facilitating life for Maltese citizens when they need to access services provided by other countries”, he said.
"Gone are the days of endless waiting lines in front of Evan's Building in Valletta. We did away with those lines because we securely transferred our services online, and this is what we will continue to do."
The final evaluation process, which is ongoing, will take up to six months. Maltese e-ID users will then be able to access EU online systems to manage their health, education and tax services.
Maltese e-ID users will be able to access these services in 14 out of 27 EU countries - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Latvia, Germany, Slovakia, Croatia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lithuania, and Portugal. These are the countries that have so far achieved security assurance for their electronic identification system. The majority of EU nations have not yet marked this achievement.
Malta's e-ID system underwent 'rigorous' testing and achieved the highest level of security assurance recognised by the EU. "Most importantly, the system is secure. Identity theft crimes are surging everywhere and this is a step forward to ensure that Maltese e-ID users have their information stored safely," Muscat added.