Union set to recognise digital signatures

Date: 01/04/1999

By Peter Chapman

EU TELECOMS ministers are set to give the fledgling electronic commerce market a significant boost later this month when they finally agree new Europe-wide legislation to give digital signatures full legal status.

Union diplomats predict that ministers will bury their technical differences over the proposed framework, which will give digital signatures used in online business the same legal status in Union courtrooms as handwritten ones. Digital signatures use binary digits to formulate the electronic equivalent of traditional pen and ink.

Telecoms ministers broadly endorsed the European Commission's draft directive, which would also create a single market for digital signature services, when they discussed the issue last autumn. The Commission's proposals would, among other things, give bodies which 'certify' that signatures are legitimate the right to have their certificates recognised throughout the EU.

But the ministers failed to reach final agreement on the proposed directive because of disputes over the technical specifications for approved signatures.

The move angered Acting Telecoms Commissioner Martin Bangemann, who argued that the failure to agree a system would seriously hamper the growth of the electronic commerce market.

When the issue was discussed last autumn, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal supported calls for a detailed 'technical annex' which would list requirements for digital signatures. They argued that this would reduce the risk of forgery and boost consumer confidence in electronic commerce.

However, another group of member states led by the UK, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands insisted that such stringent requirements could place too heavy a burden on industry.

EU experts say ministers are now ready to agree a formula which gives some "more modest" safeguards, allowing member states to "monitor what is going on", and will approve the deal at their next meeting on 22 April.

Opponents of a tougher regime say the latest proposal addresses their concerns that over-regulation would make it difficult for European companies to capitalise on the opportunities offered by this expanding market.

" If you had created a very high technical threshold, it could have been a big dampener to electronic commerce," said one British diplomat. "Now we have a new technical annex which sets the hurdle much lower."

Member state are also close to agreeing on a more streamlined approach to granting special approval for certain technologies.

Under the latest plan, EU governments would be able to appoint agencies which would give their seal of approval to certain digital signature schemes.

" If an agency in one member state approves a digital signature, then it should be approved in all other member states," explained the British diplomat.