EU Regulation 910/201427 EU member states + EEA2014, in force since 1 July 2016

eIDAS · Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services

The pan-European framework for legally-binding electronic signatures.

Verify a signature How our verifier works

What it is

eIDAS is the EU regulation that defines what an electronic signature is, how it should be validated, and what legal weight it carries in court. Directly applicable in every member state — no national transposition needed. The regulation establishes three signature tiers (SES → AES → QES), defines what counts as a Trust Service Provider, and sets the technical bar for cross-border recognition.

Scope

Every signed document originating in the EU, EEA, or Switzerland (via parallel ZertES alignment) inherits eIDAS-compatible legal force. A QES signed in Estonia is legally equivalent to a handwritten signature in Portugal, France, and 25 other states.

What letssign.now does

Every signature we produce is at minimum a Simple Electronic Signature (SES) under eIDAS. When SMS verification is enabled per request, the same envelope becomes an Advanced Electronic Signature (AES). Both tiers are admissible as evidence in every EU member state. QES is on the roadmap via Qualified Trust Service Provider partnership.

Deeper detail

Three signature tiersExpand

SES (Simple) — what most people call 'an electronic signature'. AES (Advanced) — uniquely identifies the signer and detects post-signing tampering. QES (Qualified) — AES + a qualified certificate issued by a Qualified Trust Service Provider, legally equivalent to a handwritten signature.

How courts treat eIDAS signaturesExpand

Article 25(1) is the load-bearing clause: an electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence solely on the grounds that it is in electronic form. Even SES has weight. The dispute usually becomes a question of identity binding, which is why AES and QES exist.

The Trust List (LOTL)Expand

Every EU member state publishes a signed Trusted List of its qualified providers. The Commission publishes the List of Trusted Lists (LOTL) — the index pointing to all 27. Our verifier validates against the live LOTL plus pinned signing certificates.