Regulation in Europe

The EC plans a revision of the eSignature Directive

The European Commission published its Digital Agenda for Europe. The Communication foresees a revision of the eSignature Directive in 2011. The focus of the revision will be on the provision of a legal framework for cross-border recognition and interoperability of secure eAuthentication systems.

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Regulation

Regulation in Europe

Community framework for electronic signatures

The main piece of regulation at European level is the Directive 1999/93/EC. A summary of the Directive is available on EC webpages. It foresees among others that Member States shall notify the Commission of a series of information related to possible voluntary accreditation schemes, national bodies in charge of the accreditation and supervision and names of accredited certification service providers (notification status).

Besides that a number of standards were adopted by ETSI and CEN.

On 28 November 2008 the European Commission adopted an "Action Plan on e-signatures and e-identification to facilitate the provision of cross-border public services in the Single Market". End 2007, the EC published also 2 important studies related to interoperability:

Preliminary study on the mutual recognition of eSignatures for eGovernment applications, November 2007 - to be updated in 2009.
Study on the standardisation aspects of e-signatures, November 2007.

Notify ChamberSign in case of abuse

ChamberSign is a lobby organisation looking at the improvement of e-signature interoperability in Europe. If you face practical difficulties with using your e-signature abroad, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We analyse each case and when relevant we submit a claim to the European Commission and we follow up.