EU's new e-signatures regulation comes into force today

Brexit no excuse for ignoring European Union's eIDAS Regulation

The European Union's new Electronic Identification and Signature (eIDAS) regulation comes into force today, with the aim of standardising the way in which electronic signatures work and are enforced across the European Union.

It comes more than two years after the final draft of the regulation, part of the Digital Single Market initiative, was adopted by the EU. The new regulation replaces the 1999 Electronic Signatures Directive.

The regulation will enable, for example, students to enrol at a foreign university online; citizens to fill online tax returns in another EU country; and businesses to participate electronically in public calls for tenders across the EU, claimed the then European Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The eIDAS Regulation specifies the standards for electronic signatures, electronic seals, timestamps and other forms of proof for authenticating electronic transactions with the same legal standing as transactions performed on paper.

EU member states are required to recognise electronic signatures that meet the standards of eIDAS, which requires them to create a common framework recognising eIDs from other member states.

The new regulation has been broadly welcomed. "[It] will establish a more predictable regulatory framework for electronic transactions and boost cross-border e-commerce. The European Commission felt that the e-Signatures Directive 1999 had not had the desired effect. It was implemented inconsistently across the 28 member states and this was hampering the flagship Digital Single Market strategy," said Richard Oliphant, EMEA general counsel at digital signature software specialist DocuSign.

He continued: "We welcome eIDAS. It will advance the Digital Single Market and we will see rising demand from businesses to use secure electronic signature platforms [like DocuSign]. One of the more significant features of eIDAS is that it will enable providers to use cloud technology so their customers can generate and validate electronic signatures on the move with their smartphone or tablet. I think this will really help drive the digital transformation of business in the UK and across the EU."

The European Union is shifting towards the use of regulations rather than directives to make law across the 28-country organisation because regulations are directly applicable in the legal systems of all member states.

Directives, in contrast, have to be translated into legislation in each country and then passed through national parliaments. As a result, there has been widespread criticism that directives can be too variable from one EU member state to another. Furthermore, the implementation of directives can be held up as a result of opposition in member states.