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).

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

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