Qualified electronic signature (QES)

A qualified electronic signature is an advanced electronic signature created with a qualified signature creation device and backed by a qualified certificate issued by a trust service provider that appears on the EU trusted list. Because these providers are supervised by national authorities, a QES has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature and must be recognised in all member states.

Businesses meet it when dealing with public authorities, signing documents where the law demands written form, or using national e-invoicing and tax portals that require qualified certificates for authentication or for sealing files. Remote qualified signatures, where the key is held by the provider and released after identity verification, have made QES available without smart cards. The European Digital Identity Wallet planned under eIDAS 2.0 is expected to make it a standard feature for citizens and businesses.