European Business Wallets
Opinion factsheet
On this page
- Research, Innovation and Digital
- Digital transformation
Opinion number:
CDR-4359-2025
Status:
Adopted
Impact
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) significantly shaped the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee report on European Business Wallets (adopted in September 2026) by ensuring the technical and financial realities of local and regional authorities (LRAs) were reflected in the legislative text. The inter-institutional procedure is still ongoing (state of play mid-November).
• Support and Workable Timelines for Smaller Authorities. Addressing CoR warnings that mandatory wallet acceptance could strain limited local budgets and administrative capacities, MEPs rejected a blanket exemption for small municipalities in favour of universal acceptance. Instead, the ITRE report requires Member States to provide dedicated support and technical solutions to smaller public sector bodies—such as local and municipal authorities—alongside a more workable timeline to adapt to new technical specifications so the regulation does not widen the digital gap between central and local administrations.
• Interoperability with Existing Systems. Echoing the CoR’s call to avoid duplicating existing tools or creating new layers of bureaucracy, ITRE called for an implementation roadmap to identify priority use cases and ensure seamless interoperability between Business Wallets and existing national, regional, and EU digital infrastructure.
• SME-Centric Design and Affordability. In line with the CoR's emphasis on local economic ecosystems, MEPs amended the proposal to mandate that wallets remain affordable, user-friendly, and tailored to the practical needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under transparent, fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions.
• Support and Workable Timelines for Smaller Authorities. Addressing CoR warnings that mandatory wallet acceptance could strain limited local budgets and administrative capacities, MEPs rejected a blanket exemption for small municipalities in favour of universal acceptance. Instead, the ITRE report requires Member States to provide dedicated support and technical solutions to smaller public sector bodies—such as local and municipal authorities—alongside a more workable timeline to adapt to new technical specifications so the regulation does not widen the digital gap between central and local administrations.
• Interoperability with Existing Systems. Echoing the CoR’s call to avoid duplicating existing tools or creating new layers of bureaucracy, ITRE called for an implementation roadmap to identify priority use cases and ensure seamless interoperability between Business Wallets and existing national, regional, and EU digital infrastructure.
• SME-Centric Design and Affordability. In line with the CoR's emphasis on local economic ecosystems, MEPs amended the proposal to mandate that wallets remain affordable, user-friendly, and tailored to the practical needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under transparent, fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions.