What it is and how it can help in your data collection and harmonization efforts

A company’s name is the best and easiest way to identify it? Well, different naming conventions or multiple companies with the same name sometimes make it difficult to uniquely identify a company. Also, when merging data from different sources, a unique number takes away the risk of faulty matches. The European Unique Identifier (EUID) does exactly this job. Introduced in 2017 by the European Commission, it is a combination of identifiers for the country and the trade register name as well as the company’s identifier in the trade register. For example, North Data’s EUID is: DEK1101R.HRB116737. DE stands for Germany, K1101R is the code for the trade register in Hamburg, and HRB116737 is the identifier within the trade register for North Data. For all details, please click the link to get to the regulation as issued by the European Commission.

Short Profile

• Name: European Unique Identifier (EUID)

• Introduced: 2017 by the European Commission

• Valid: Applicable in all EU countries

• Goal: Provide a unique and consistent number to each company in Europe to enable easy identification and consolidation of master data

• What is it? A combination of the company code, the identifier of the trade register, and the identifier for each company within the trade register

• Where can I use it? The EUID is being used by the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS), which was set up by the EU to help increase transparency

The setup of the EUID can be compared with the implementation of the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) in 2014. The launch of the IBAN merged three pieces of information necessary for the transfer of money—country identifier, bank identifier, and specific bank account number—into one number, the IBAN. Launched ten years ago, the IBAN has been well established as a standard in the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area), whose members include all EU countries and Monaco, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, the UK, Liechtenstein, and San Marino. More than 50 other countries have also made the usage of IBAN mandatory, which makes it a powerful standard for millions of people and businesses. It is well possible that the EUID will follow the IBAN’s example and become a similarly important identifier in the business world.

In case you wonder why we are so passionate about the EUID: At North Data, we feel very connected with Europe. We have gathered company input from 18 European countries, and we consider ourselves to be a European company. We believe in Europe as a great place to live, work, do business, and develop together. Therefore, we are supporting and actively pushing the usage of this Europe-wide coherent identifier. Unlike other identifiers implemented in the past by companies, the EUID is set up by the European Commission and is thereby (cost-)neutral to every user. The EUID will be part of all quarterly exports within the Data Services offer and is already available in our Premium Services Quick Search.

As a summary, the EUID will help in business transparency by providing one unique identifier to each company in Europe. We believe the EUID is here to stay and hope it becomes a powerful identifier for you in your searches and business challenges.