eIDAS Authentication & European Identity Federation

Overview#

The eIDAS Authentication module enables organizations to accept and verify electronic identities issued by EU member states through the eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) framework. The platform supports cross-border identity verification, SAML-based authentication flows, eIDAS node management, and trust service integration, enabling European citizens and officials to authenticate using their national electronic identity credentials across federated deployments.

This module is essential for organizations operating across European borders that need to verify identities issued by different member states while maintaining compliance with the eIDAS Regulation (EU 910/2014) and its implementing acts.

Key Features#

• eIDAS Node Integration -- Connect to national eIDAS nodes for cross-border identity verification with support for both eIDAS proxy and middleware service configurations
• SAML Authentication Flows -- Full SAML 2.0 support for eIDAS authentication with login initiation, callback handling, assertion validation, and attribute extraction from national identity providers
• SAML Signature Verification -- Cryptographic validation of SAML assertions and responses with certificate management, signature algorithm enforcement, and replay attack prevention
• Cross-Border Identity Mapping -- Map attributes from national identity schemes to platform user profiles, handling variations in attribute naming, format, and assurance levels across member states
• Assurance Level Enforcement -- Validate that presented identities meet the required Level of Assurance (Low, Substantial, High) for the requested operation, with configurable minimum levels per resource
• Node Health Monitoring -- Continuous monitoring of eIDAS node availability and response times with automated failover to backup authentication paths when primary nodes are unavailable
• Non-Blocking Startup Synchronization -- eIDAS node metadata synchronization runs asynchronously at service startup, preventing health check timeouts while ensuring fresh metadata is available for authentication flows
• Trust Service Directory -- Maintain a local cache of trusted eIDAS nodes, certificates, and metadata with automated refresh from the EU Trusted List infrastructure

Use Cases#

• European Law Enforcement Cooperation -- Officers from different EU member states authenticate to shared investigation platforms using their national police identity credentials, with assurance level verification ensuring appropriate access
• Cross-Border Emergency Response -- Emergency responders operating across borders authenticate with their national eID to access shared situational awareness platforms during multi-national incidents
• Federated Defence Operations -- Military and civilian personnel from allied nations authenticate through their national eIDAS infrastructure to access shared operational planning and intelligence systems
• Citizen Services -- Public-facing services accept authentication from any EU member state electronic identity, enabling cross-border access to government services without requiring separate credential issuance

Integration#

This module connects to the platform's authentication service as an identity provider option alongside existing SSO, SAML, and OAuth providers. It feeds into the session management system for token issuance, the audit logging platform for authentication event recording, and the compliance dashboard for eIDAS regulation adherence monitoring.

Availability#

• Enterprise Plan: Full eIDAS authentication suite included
• Professional Plan: Available as add-on for organizations requiring European identity federation

Last Reviewed: 2026-03-02