The Council of the European Union is making a strategic move to gather stakeholder feedback before pushing forward with its ambitious plan to create standardized digital wallets for businesses across the bloc. This consultation gambit aims to preempt potential opposition from business groups, consumer advocates, and national governments who might balk at the administrative burden or data privacy implications of a mandatory EU-wide digital business identity system. Published on January 15, 2026, this consultation document from the Council requests formal input from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the proposed Regulation establishing European Business Wallets. This is a non-legal consultation document that represents the start of the legislative process, containing concrete proposals for mandatory business wallets but seeking feedback before finalizing the regulatory framework. The policy direction reveals a clear cleavage between EU digital integration and national sovereignty in business regulation, with the proposal leaning toward increasing EU-level standardization at the expense of national flexibility in business identification systems. The document also prioritizes digital transformation and administrative efficiency over potential concerns about data privacy and implementation costs for smaller businesses. For EU businesses, particularly SMEs, this represents a major operational impact requiring adaptation to new digital systems, while offering potential long-term efficiency gains.
National authorities face moderate impact through reduced sovereignty over business registration systems but gain streamlined cross-border verification. EU regulatory bodies would see their powers increase through centralized oversight of the wallet system.
Consumers could experience both positive impact through easier business verification and negative concerns about data security in centralized systems. This consultation marks the beginning of the legislative process, with the EESC expected to provide its opinion by January 19, 2026, after which the Council will decide whether to incorporate feedback or proceed with the current proposal to the European Parliament for further debate.
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