Electronic Signatures Directive

Directive 1999/93/EC

European Union directive
Title	Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures
Made by	European Parliament & Council
Journal reference	L13, pp. 12-20
Other legislation
Replaced by	REGULATION (EU) No 910/2014 is repealing Directive 1999/93/EC and shall apply from 1 July 2016.

The Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC is a European Union Directive on the use of electronic signatures (eSignatures) in electronic contracts within the European Union (EU).^[1]

Contents

The central provision of the Directive is article 5, which requires that electronic signatures are regarded as equivalent to written signatures.

“

Legal effects of electronic signatures 1. Member States shall ensure that advanced electronic signatures which are based on a qualified certificate and which are created by a secure-signature-creation device: (a) satisfy the legal requirements of a signature in relation to data in electronic form in the same manner as a handwritten signature satisfies those requirements in relation to paper-based data; and (b) are admissible as evidence in legal proceedings.

”

Related acts

• Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “Action Plan on e-signatures and e-identification to facilitate the provision of cross-border public services in the Single Market” [COM(2008) 798 final – Not published in the Official Journal]
• Commission report of 15 March 2006 on the operation of Directive 1999/93/EC on a Community framework for electronic signatures [COM(2006) 120 final – not published in the Official Journal].
• Commission Decision 2003/511/EC of 14 July 2003 on the publication of reference numbers of generally recognised standards for electronic signature products in accordance with Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council [Official Journal L 175, 15.7.2003]
• Commission Decision 2000/709/EC of 6 November 2000 on the minimum criteria to be taken into account by Member States when designating bodies in accordance with Article 3(4) of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community framework for electronic signatures [Official Journal L 289 of 16.11.2000]

Implementation

See also

• Digital signatures and law#European Union and the European Economic Area
• Electronic signature
• United States Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act

External links

• http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31999L0093 - EUR-Lex multi-lingual documents on Directive 1999/93/EC
• https://www.docusign.com/eu-esignature-directive - Docusign article on Directive 1999/93/EC

References

1. "Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures". EUR-Lex. European Union. 1999. Retrieved 3 August 2014.