Questions & answers about ESSPASS

Using digital documents across borders

How will ESSPASS work in practice?

ESSPASS will allow people to request, receive and use social security documents fully online. The European Health Insurance Card will be issued in 24 hours maximum. The request for the “A1” document for posted workers, which shows which country's social security system covers a posted worker will be further standardised. Through the EU Digital Identity Wallets, people will be able to store and present these documents digitally on their phone, while administrations will be able to verify them instantly and securely. Paper versions will remain available and will carry verifiable security features so that they can also be checked instantly.

What does it mean that qualifications obtained in the EU will have to be issued digitally?

Under the proposed Skills Portability Act, new and recent qualifications will be issued in a standard digital format in the EU Digital Identity Wallet, making them portable and easier to verify across EU borders. This will cover all qualifications most relevant for the labour market, from secondary school to doctoral degrees. Qualifications awarded in the ten years before entry into force will be available digitally within two weeks, upon request, and a mechanism will be put in place to also issue older qualifications.

In addition, a new EU online tool in Europass - the EU platform for skills, qualifications and career information - linking all national databases of qualifications, will provide an easy and free resource for employers and workers who would like to compare the content of qualifications gained in different Member States. Digitalisation changes the format, not the value of a qualification. Whether a qualification gives access to a regulated profession remains a decision for national authorities.

When will these digital documents be available?

The Digital Wallet should be available to people and companies across the EU by the end of 2026. Digital qualifications will be integrated into the wallet three years after the proposal enters into force. The portable document A1 for posted workers will be digitalised one year after entry into force, followed by the European Health Insurance Card and other social security documents after three years. Paper and alternative channels remain available throughout.

After entry into force of the new rules on the digitalisation of qualifications, Member States will have three years to implement them. The revised Professional Qualifications Directive and the directive on the recognition of qualifications of non-EU nationals provide for transition periods of two years.

Will people still be able to use paper documents or access services without a digital wallet?

Yes. Paper versions will remain available on request for social security documents and qualifications, even as digital formats will become the default. No one is required to hold a digital wallet. Paper social security documents will carry security features allowing them to be verified and must continue to be accepted by the administrations.