Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF)

The Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF) is the EU's technical blueprint for the EUDI Wallet: formats, protocols, roles and certification.

The Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF), formally the EU Digital Identity Wallet Architecture and Reference Framework, is the technical blueprint of the EUDI Wallet, maintained by the European Commission with the member states through the European Digital Identity Cooperation Group (EDICG) - the successor to the former eIDAS Expert Group, whose name still appears in older documents. It grew out of the Commission's 2021 Toolbox Recommendation on a common approach to a European digital identity, and it evolves in numbered releases as implementation choices are finalised. It fixes the trust model and the technology choices: credential formats (SD-JWT, mdoc), protocols (OpenID4VC), the roles (PID provider, attestation providers, relying parties, wallet providers) and the certification approach.

The ARF sits between the regulation and the implementing acts: eIDAS 2 says what must exist, the ARF says how the ecosystem fits together, and the implementing regulations make parts of it legally binding.