The Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC was a European Union
directive on the use of
electronic signature
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is data that is logically associated with other data and which is used by the signatory to sign the associated data. This type of signature has the same legal standing as a handwritten signature as long as i ...
s (e-signatures) in electronic contracts within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU).
It was repealed by the
eIDAS
eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) is an EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market. It was established in EU Regulation 910/2014 o ...
regulation on 1 July 2016.
Contents
The central provision of the directive is article 5, which requires that electronic signatures are regarded as equivalent to written signatures.
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”
OM(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
OM(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
fficial Journal L 175, 15 July 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
fficial Journal L 289 of 16 November 2000
Implementation
See also
*
Digital signatures and law#European Union and the European Economic Area
*
Electronic signature
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is data that is logically associated with other data and which is used by the signatory to sign the associated data. This type of signature has the same legal standing as a handwritten signature as long as i ...
* United States
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act
The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN, , ) is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress to facilitate the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce by ensur ...
External links
* http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31999L0093 –
EUR-Lex
Eur-Lex (stylized EUR-Lex) is an official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union (EU), published in 24 official languages of the EU. The Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union is also published on EUR- ...
multi-lingual documents on Directive 1999/93/EC
* https://www.docusign.com/eu-esignature-directive – Docusign article on Directive 1999/93/EC
References
European Union directives
1999 in law
1999 in the European Union
English contract law
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