Why QES is important for your business

QES

What QES means for your business

Signing your agreements with qualified electronic signatures (QES) is like winning the grand slam of business processes:

Highest standards of reliability per eIDAS protects you and builds confidence in your brand
Avoiding uncertainty in disputes with signatory non-repudiation
Achieve the same legal effect as a handwritten (“wet ink”) signature
Great UX (with Scrive QES) drives customer loyalty

The market is moving toward qualified trust services

QES has always been the gold standard for signing agreements electronically, and historically there have been two main drivers for doing so:

mitigating business risk on high-value transactions
legal compliance in the case of certain jurisdictions like Belgium and Germany where QES is legally required for certain types of transactions

But that has been changing, and the future clearly favours QES for much broader adoption. Increased security threats and tightening compliance standards mean that QES, rather than a luxury, is the way to future proof your business.

The evolution of the regulatory landscape of EU member states around electronic agreements is increasingly likely. Several other member states are already showing indications of moving towards the Belgian and German model of legally requiring QES for certain types of agreements.

Recent movements in Sweden are telling:

The Swedish Ministry of Finance’s 2023 report on government e-identification states that it should be capable of creating QES.
The Lantmäteriet (Land Registry) has proposed a QES requirement for housing sale documents.

In Norway, Norwegian BankID is in the process of becoming a QTSP and will replace all its signatures with QES. As a result, all documents signed with Norwegian BankID will automatically be at the QES level.

Take the guesswork out of cross-border compliance

A qualified electronic signature can only be created using the services of a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP), which enables cross-border interoperability and recognition of signed documents (and other electronic transactions) across all EU member states. In other words, a transaction secured by a QTSP based in any member state will be considered as qualified in every member state.

Because a QTSP must pass a conformity assessment, according to the standards defined in the eIDAS regulation, transactions on the qualified level, like QES, are automatically afforded the highest level of legal protection throughout the EU. That is, they enjoy the legal presumption of validity and authenticity, placing the burden of proof on the challenging party in the event of a dispute.

A key differentiating factor of Scrive QES lies in its vision: enabling the same document to be signed by multiple parties across different EU member states. Verifying the signatory’s identity is a crucial aspect of creating a qualified electronic signature, and Scrive QES makes it possible for each signatory to securely identify themself using their national eID, provided it meets the applicable requirements of the eIDAS. Currently, Scrive QES integrates Swedish BankID, but as additional eIDs are incorporated over time, the solution will expand to support cross-border signing within the same service, facilitating seamless compliance and expanding accessibility across the EU.

Future proofing your business

In whatever regulatory landscape you operate in, now and for the future, know that when it comes to legal certainty, QES is king in the EU: an agreement signed with QES reaches the highest level of reliability and legal recognition per eIDAS. And it’s worth bearing in mind that the eIDAS standards are the model for corresponding regulations in the UK and other countries outside the EU.