Finnish Citizen Certificate can now be used for identification in Estonian and Swedish public administration services – expanding to all EU countries in 2026

The Citizen Certificate on the Finnish identity card can now be used to securely identify oneself for example in the digital services of Estonia and Sweden. Later, it will also be possible to use the Citizen Certificate for identification in the services of the other EU countries. 

This is good news especially for those Finns who live, study or work in EU countries. The reform will make it possible to manage matters related to taxes, studies, social benefits and housing in the other EU countries. 

The aim is to extend the possibility of cross-border identification to all EU countries. Not only public administration but also service providers in the private sector can offer the identification possibility.  

Although the Finnish Citizen Certificate can now be used to identify oneself in services, the actual use of the services is not always possible as yet. The possibility to use the services always depends on the service provider. Service providers have their own schedules for developing service use opportunities for users from the other EU countries.  

EU regulation on electronic identification in the background

Identification is made possible by the EU eIDAS Regulation (electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services), which creates a union-wide common framework for electronic identification and trust services in the EU.

EU countries that enable identification using a Citizen Certificate are Sweden, Estonia, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Portugal.

What is the Citizen Certificate?

The Citizen Certificate is a secure electronic identification token on Finnish electronic identity cards. It can be used to 

• identify oneself securely online in services using Suomi.fi e-Identification and in the authorities’ services in Sweden, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and, in future, also in other EU countries.
• sign documents electronically and
• encrypt files.

The user of the Citizen Certificate must first activate the identity card. Activation requires

• the activation PIN received with the identity card
• a chip card reader or a computer with a built-in reader, and
• card reader software.

More information
Read more about activating the Citizen Certificate
More information on the activation of the Citizen Certificate and its use in eIDAS identification