EIDAS 2014/0910 EN

1. When issuing a qualified certificate for a trust_service, a qualified trust_service provider shall verify, by appropriate means and in accordance with national law, the identity and, if applicable, any specific attributes of the natural or legal person to whom the qualified certificate is issued.

The information referred to in the first subparagraph shall be verified by the qualified trust_service provider either directly or by relying on a third party in accordance with national law:

(a)	by the physical presence of the natural person or of an authorised representative of the legal person; or

(b)

remotely, using electronic_identification means, for which prior to the issuance of the qualified certificate, a physical presence of the natural person or of an authorised representative of the legal person was ensured and which meets the requirements set out in Article 8 with regard to the assurance levels ‘substantial’ or ‘high’; or

(c)	by means of a certificate of a qualified electronic_signature or of a qualified electronic_seal issued in compliance with point (a) or (b); or

(d)	by using other identification methods recognised at national level which provide equivalent assurance in terms of reliability to physical presence. The equivalent assurance shall be confirmed by a conformity_assessment_body.

2. A qualified trust_service provider providing qualified trust_services shall:

(a)	inform the supervisory body of any change in the provision of its qualified trust_services and an intention to cease those activities;

(b)

employ staff and, if applicable, subcontractors who possess the necessary expertise, reliability, experience, and qualifications and who have received appropriate training regarding security and personal data protection rules and shall apply administrative and management procedures which correspond to European or international standards;

(c)	with regard to the risk of liability for damages in accordance with Article 13, maintain sufficient financial resources and/or obtain appropriate liability insurance, in accordance with national law;

(d)	before entering into a contractual relationship, inform, in a clear and comprehensive manner, any person seeking to use a qualified trust_service of the precise terms and conditions regarding the use of that service, including any limitations on its use;

(e)	use trustworthy systems and products that are protected against modification and ensure the technical security and reliability of the processes supported by them;

(f)

use trustworthy systems to store data provided to it, in a verifiable form so that:

(i)	they are publicly available for retrieval only where the consent of the person to whom the data relates has been obtained,

(ii)	only authorised persons can make entries and changes to the stored data,

(iii)

the data can be checked for authenticity;

(g)	take appropriate measures against forgery and theft of data;

(h)

record and keep accessible for an appropriate period of time, including after the activities of the qualified trust_service provider have ceased, all relevant information concerning data issued and received by the qualified trust_service provider, in particular, for the purpose of providing evidence in legal proceedings and for the purpose of ensuring continuity of the service. Such recording may be done electronically;

(i)	have an up-to-date termination plan to ensure continuity of service in accordance with provisions verified by the supervisory body under point (i) of Article 17(4);

(j)	ensure lawful processing of personal data in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC;

(k)	in case of qualified trust_service providers issuing qualified certificates, establish and keep updated a certificate database.

3. If a qualified trust_service provider issuing qualified certificates decides to revoke a certificate, it shall register such revocation in its certificate database and publish the revocation status of the certificate in a timely manner, and in any event within 24 hours after the receipt of the request. The revocation shall become effective immediately upon its publication.

4. With regard to paragraph 3, qualified trust_service providers issuing qualified certificates shall provide to any relying_party information on the validity or revocation status of qualified certificates issued by them. This information shall be made available at least on a per certificate basis at any time and beyond the validity period of the certificate in an automated manner that is reliable, free of charge and efficient.

5. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, establish reference numbers of standards for trustworthy systems and products, which comply with the requirements under points (e) and (f) of paragraph 2 of this Article. Compliance with the requirements laid down in this Article shall be presumed where trustworthy systems and products meet those standards. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 48(2).

SECTION 4

Electronic signatures

Article 25

Legal effects of electronic_signatures

1. An electronic_signature shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic_signatures.

2. A qualified electronic_signature shall have the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature.

3. A qualified electronic_signature based on a qualified certificate issued in one Member State shall be recognised as a qualified electronic_signature in all other Member States.

Article 35

Legal effects of electronic_seals

1. An electronic_seal shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic_seals.

2. A qualified electronic_seal shall enjoy the presumption of integrity of the data and of correctness of the origin of that data to which the qualified electronic_seal is linked.

3. A qualified electronic_seal based on a qualified certificate issued in one Member State shall be recognised as a qualified electronic_seal in all other Member States.

Article 41

Legal effect of electronic_time_stamps

1. An electronic_time_stamp shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements of the qualified electronic_time_stamp.

2. A qualified electronic_time_stamp shall enjoy the presumption of the accuracy of the date and the time it indicates and the integrity of the data to which the date and time are bound.

3. A qualified electronic_time_stamp issued in one Member State shall be recognised as a qualified electronic_time_stamp in all Member States.

Article 43

Legal effect of an electronic_registered_delivery_service

1. Data sent and received using an electronic_registered_delivery_service shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements of the qualified electronic_registered_delivery_service.

2. Data sent and received using a qualified electronic_registered_delivery_service shall enjoy the presumption of the integrity of the data, the sending of that data by the identified sender, its receipt by the identified addressee and the accuracy of the date and time of sending and receipt indicated by the qualified electronic_registered_delivery_service.

Article 46

Legal effects of electronic_documents

An electronic_document shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in electronic form.

CHAPTER V

DELEGATIONS OF POWER AND IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

whereas

(22) In order to contribute to their general cross-border use, it should be possible to use trust_services as evidence in legal proceedings in all Member States.
It is for the national law to define the legal effect of trust_services, except if otherwise provided in this Regulation.

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(60) Trust service providers issuing qualified certificates for electronic_seals should implement the necessary measures in order to be able to establish the identity of the natural person representing the legal person to whom the qualified certificate for the electronic_seal is provided, when such identification is necessary at national level in the context of judicial or administrative proceedings.

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keyboard_tab EIDAS 2014/0910 EN

EIDAS 2014/0910 EN