Learning path
Electronic signature — Electronic signature and eIDAS
The five blocks of electronic signature in Europe: what separates a simple signature from an advanced and a qualified one, what evidence you need for a signature to hold up if challenged, what timestamps are for, how it applies to employment paperwork and what changes with eIDAS 2 and the European digital identity wallet.
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- 1 The three signature levels Simple, advanced and qualified: what really separates them. Block 1
- 2 Evidence of the signing act What to keep so the signature holds up later. Block 2
- 3 Timestamps and integrity How to prove when a document existed and that it has not changed. Block 3
- 4 Signing employment paperwork Payslips, contracts and notices: what can be signed and how. Block 4
- 5 eIDAS 2 and the European wallet What changes with Regulation (EU) 2024/1183. Block 5
Electronic signature, explained block by block
An electronic signature is not a product: it is a legal effect reached in several ways, at different cost and with different evidential weight. This path explains what you gain and what you give up at each level.
Each block links to the official text that sets the rule, so what is stated here can be checked in the official journal rather than taken on a supplier's word.
Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS) on electronic identification and trust services EUR-Lex · 23/07/2014
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, European digital identity framework (eIDAS 2) EUR-Lex · 11/04/2024
- Spanish Law 6/2020 on certain aspects of electronic trust services BOE-A-2020-14046 · 12/11/2020