Legislation concerning eIDAS (Electronic IDentification And trust Services) came into effect on July 1st, 2016. The aim of the new legislation is to “build trust in the on-line environment” by delivering a comprehensive cross-border and cross-sector framework for secure, trustworthy and easy-to-use electronic transactions between citizens, businesses and public authorities.
eIDAS introduces numerous changes vis-à-vis the 1999 EU directive concerning the regulatory framework for electronic identification and trust services. This climate of trust covers secure electronic identification and authentication as well as other services such as time stamps and electronic registered delivery services. The implementation of this framework will make it possible to carry out administrative procedures in all EU Member States and require their mutual acknowledgement.
The text sheds light on one of the major problems encountered today: “In most cases, citizens in one Member State cannot use their electronic identification for authentication purposes in another Member State because the national electronic identification schemes in their country of origin are not recognized in other Member States”. This issue of non-recognition stems from the different interpretations and technical implementation of the directive by each Member State which cause problems of interoperability and divergences in the controls carried out. Concerning “trust services” such as time stamps and electronic seals, divergence stems from the lack of a coherent legal framework at the European level, which is a real obstacle in building cross-border digital trust.
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