eIDAS (Electronic Identification and Trust Services)
eIDAS is the EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services — the legal framework for e-signatures, e-seals, timestamps, and national eID schemes. The 2024 update (eIDAS 2.0, Regulation (EU) 2024/1183) adds the European Digital Identity Wallet.
What it regulates
The original 2014 regulation (910/2014) created the market for trust services: qualified electronic signatures carry the legal effect of a handwritten signature, and qualified seals, timestamps, website certificates, and registered delivery get cross-border legal recognition through supervised providers (QTSPs). It also obliged member states to recognize each other’s notified national eID schemes.
The 2024 amendment — commonly called eIDAS 2.0 — keeps the trust-services layer and adds the EUDI Wallet: every member state must make a wallet available that lets citizens hold and present identity attributes and qualified attestations (diplomas, licences, certificates) as verifiable credentials, with privacy properties like selective disclosure.
Why businesses should care
eIDAS turns digital signatures and identity from nice-to-have integrations into legally recognized instruments — a qualified signature is enforceable like a wet-ink one. The wallet rollout adds a business-facing opportunity and obligation: regulated industries will be expected to accept EUDI Wallet identification, and issuers of attestations (universities, licensing bodies, employers) gain a standard, interoperable credential format.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between eIDAS and eIDAS 2.0?
eIDAS (2014) created the trust-services framework — qualified signatures, seals, timestamps, and cross-border eID recognition. eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation 2024/1183) keeps that layer and adds the European Digital Identity Wallet, letting citizens hold identity attributes and attestations as verifiable credentials on their phones.
Is a qualified electronic signature legally binding?
Yes — under eIDAS a qualified electronic signature has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature across all member states, and qualified trust services get mutual recognition EU-wide.
Related Standards
- •Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS)
- •Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 (eIDAS 2.0)
- •W3C Verifiable Credentials — the underlying credential data model
Further Reading
Products & Services
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