1 Support for Sole Trader Representation

Authors:

  • Consortium Architecture Working Group AMS Track 4

  • Boris Lingl, boris.lingl@datev.de

  • Alexander Manecke, a.manecke@telekom.de

  • Ignacio Ripoll, ignacio.ripoll@corpme.es

  • Iris Speiser, iris.speiser@datev.de

  • Marlene Urbschat, marlene.urbschat@datev.de

1.1 Context

The current PoA/PoR rulebooks focus primarily on legal persons and do not adequately represent sole traders and similar economic actors.

As a result, certain business structures cannot be represented consistently within the current model.

The core trade-off is between maintaining a legal-person-centric model and expanding the scope to support a broader set of economic actors.

1.2 Decision

The consortium will extend the rulebook terminology from “legal person” to the broader concept of an “economic operator.”

The consortium will leverage the EBWOID initiative and use an EUID-like identifier approach to support identity representation for sole traders and similar actors.

Where necessary, existing implementations may continue to process legacy terminology during a transition period, provided that semantic interpretation remains aligned with the new rulebook concept.

1.3 Consequences

1.3.1 What becomes easier?

  • Inclusion of sole traders within the ecosystem.
  • Broader applicability of PoA/PoR use cases.
  • Improved alignment with real-world business structures.
  • Better consistency across participating jurisdictions.

1.3.2 What becomes more difficult?

  • Cross-border identifier interoperability remains challenging.
  • National registration systems may use incompatible identifiers.
  • Additional governance may be required for identifier mapping.

1.3.3 How do we address the risks introduced by this change?

  • Reuse existing EBWOID work wherever possible.
  • Define guidance for identifier mapping and interoperability.
  • Continue collaboration with relevant European initiatives addressing economic operator identification.
  • Define a migration approach for legacy terminology to avoid interpretation inconsistencies during rollout.

1.4 Advice

  • 2026-06-11: Consortium Working Group: The rulebook should support all relevant economic actors, not only legal persons.
  • 2026-06-11: Identity Domain Experts: Existing EUID-like approaches should be reused where possible.
  • 2026-06-11: Member States: Cross-border identifier harmonization remains an open challenge that requires further work.