In July 2026, the EUDI Wallet mainly progressed through elements that will be barely visible in the application but are necessary for using it. A wallet needs to prove that it is official, recognise authorised organisations, and exchange proofs with other systems.
In this article, I explain three key developments from July. The first updates European technical rules. The second makes trusted actors easier to verify. The third shows how a learning credential can be exchanged between the European Union and Japan.
Recognising an official wallet
On 15 July 2026, the Commission adopted Implementing Regulation 2026/1731. The text was published in the Official Journal on 22 July. It amends four technical regulations from 2024 to align them with newer versions of the Architecture and Reference Framework, or ARF (Regulation 2026/1731).
This text does not create a new type of wallet. For a software team, it instead acts as an interface contract update. The common architecture has evolved, so the formats, certificates, and protocols cited in the legal rules need to evolve with it.
The most visible change concerns the EU Digital Identity Wallet Trust Mark. A compliant application will need to display this mark and provide access to information that allows the user to verify its certification status. If the application’s attestation is revoked, the mark will need to disappear.
The mark therefore does not replace certification. It lets the user connect the application they see to official, verifiable information. Simply copying the logo into another application is not enough.
The regulation also adds protections when a service requests the holder’s portrait. The wallet will need to warn that the request concerns biometric data and ask for explicit confirmation. Silence or a pre-ticked box will not count as agreement. The service will need to explain the intended use of the portrait and limit its retention to what is necessary and authorised.
The regulation will enter into force on 11 August 2026. Some requirements have a longer timeline. The portrait can only become part of mandatory identification data from 11 August 2028, and the new validation of some registration certificates follows the same timeline.
Verifying trusted actors
A wallet cannot decide by itself whom to trust. It needs to know who issued a proof, who provides the application, and which service is requesting information.
On 3 July, the Commission presented the expanded role of the eIDAS Dashboard. Member states use it to notify trust information required by the European framework. The Commission can then compile and publish that information in a form that a person can read, but also in a machine-processable form (Dashboard overview).
The Dashboard can be understood as a verifiable directory. It includes providers of identity data, wallet providers, organisations that produce service access certificates, and the registers that record those services.
This distinction matters. When a hotel requests proof of age, the wallet needs to identify the hotel and validate the request before sharing information. Certificates and registers provide the elements needed for that check. The Dashboard makes trust sources available at European level.
The Dashboard also publishes a list for age verification. Additional functions are still being prepared, including a catalogue of attributes and schemes and information about providers of electronic attestations.
This announcement means that the trust infrastructure is becoming more concrete. It does not mean that every list is already complete or that every listed actor is already available through a public service.
Testing a learning credential between the European Union and Japan
On 16 July, the Commission published the report of an interoperability pilot between the European Union and Japan. The scenario used learning credentials in a test environment, such as the type of proof that a university can issue or verify (EU-Japan pilot report).
A Japanese student could receive or present a credential to a European service. A European student could follow the reverse journey with an EUDI Wallet prototype and a Japanese service. The test therefore covered the creation of the proof, its storage in the wallet, its presentation, and its verification.
This pilot separates two problems that are often mixed together. The technical format acts as a common language: systems need to understand the same data and signatures. Governance then decides who may issue a proof and which authority is recognised. The test checked that different architectures and rules could still work through common international standards.
The result remains a controlled test. It demonstrates the technical feasibility of an exchange in both directions. It does not create automatic legal recognition of every European credential in Japan or every Japanese credential in the Union.
Both environments required a few technical adjustments in the sandbox to work together, although the report does not specify what was changed.
Limitations
This article covers information published between 1 and 31 July 2026.
Regulation 2026/1731 has been published, but it enters into force on 11 August and several requirements will wait until 2028. The eIDAS Dashboard provides trust infrastructure, but its content still depends on notifications from member states. The EU-Japan pilot validates a test scenario, not a service open to the public.
Conclusion
July 2026 provides three practical answers. Users will be able to recognise an official wallet and verify its certification status. Systems will have European sources for identifying trusted actors. A learning credential was also able to move between a European environment and a Japanese environment.
These advances mainly concern trust between components. They bring the wallet closer to real use while deployment, certification, and service availability still need to be completed.