HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"L 53/66
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
26.2.2011
DECISIONS
COMMISSION DECISION
of 25 February 2011
establishing minimum requirements for the cross-border processing of documents signed
electronically by competent authorities under Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council on services in the internal market
(notified under document C(2011) 1081)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2011/130/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
creation device. However, Decision 2009/767/EC does
not deal with formats of electronic signatures in
documents issued by competent authorities, that need
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
to be submitted by service providers when completing
Union,
the relevant procedures and formalities.
Having regard to Directive 2006/123/EC of the European
(3) As
competent
authorities
in
Member
States
currently
use
Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on
different formats of advanced electronic signatures to
services in the internal market
( 1 ), and in particular
sign their documents electronically, the receiving
Article 8(3) thereof,
Member States that have to process these documents
may face technical difficulties due to the variety of
signature formats used. In order to allow service
providers to complete their procedures and formalities
Whereas:
across borders by electronic means, it is necessary to
ensure that at least a number of advanced electronic
signature formats can be technically supported by
(1) Service
providers
whose
services
fall
within
the
scope
of
Member States when they receive documents signed elec
Directive 2006/123/EC must be able to complete,
tronically by competent authorities from other Member
through the Points of Single Contact and by electronic
States. Defining a number of advanced electronic
means, the procedures and formalities necessary for the
signature formats that need to be supported technically
access to and the exercise of their activities. Within the
by the receiving Member State would allow greater auto
limits established in Article 5(3) of Directive
mation and improve the cross-border interoperability of
2006/123/EC, there may still be cases where service
electronic procedures.
providers have to submit original documents, certified
copies or certified translations when completing such
procedures and formalities. In those cases, service
providers may need to submit documents signed elec
(4) Member
States
whose
competent
authorities
use
other
tronically by competent authorities.
electronic signature formats than those commonly
supported, may have implemented validation means
that allow their signatures to be verified also across
borders. When this is the case and in order for the
(2) The
cross-border
use
of
advanced
electronic
signatures
receiving Member States to be able to rely on these
supported by a qualified certificate is facilitated through
validation tools, it is necessary to make information on
Commission Decision 2009/767/EC of 16 October 2009
these tools available in an easily accessible way unless the
setting out measures facilitating the use of procedures by
necessary information is included directly in the elec
electronic means through the ‘points of single contact’
tronic documents, in the electronic signatures or in the
under Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament
electronic document carriers.
and of the Council on services in the internal market ( 2 )
which, inter alia, imposes an obligation on Member
States to carry out risk assessments before requiring
these electronic signatures from service providers and
(5) This
Decision
does
not
affect
the
determination
by
the
establishes rules for the acceptance by Member States
Member States of what constitutes an original, a certified
of advanced electronic signatures based on qualified
copy or a certified translation. Its objective is limited to
certificates, created with or without a secure signature
facilitating the verification of electronic signatures if they
are used in the originals, certified copies or certified
( 1 ) OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 36.
translations that service providers may need to submit
( 2 ) OJ L 274, 20.10.2009, p. 36.
via the Points of Single Contact.

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EN
26.2.2011 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union L
53/67
(6) For
the
purpose
of
allowing
Member
States
to
implement paragraph, shall notify to the Commission existing validation
the necessary technical tools, it is appropriate that this
possibilities that allow other Member States to validate the
Decision applies as of 1 August 2011.
received electronic signatures online, free of charge and in a
way that is understandable for non-native speakers unless the
required information is already included in the document, in the
(7) The
measures
provided
for
in
this
Decision
are
in electronic signature or in the electronic document carrier. The
accordance with the opinion of the Services Directive
Commission will make that information available to all Member
Committee,
States.
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 2
Application
Article 1
This Decision shall apply from 1 August 2011.
Reference format for electronic signatures
1. Member
States
shall
put
in
place
the
necessary
technical
means allowing them to process electronically signed
Article 3
documents that service providers submit in the context of
Addressees
completing procedures and formalities through the Points of
Single Contact as foreseen by Article 8 of Directive
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
2006/123/EC, and which are signed by competent authorities
of other Member States with an XML or a CMS or a PDF
advanced electronic signature in the BES or EPES format, that
Done at Brussels, 25 February 2011.
complies with the technical specifications set out in the Annex.
For the Commission
2. Member
States
whose
competent
authorities
sign
the
documents referred to in paragraph 1 using other formats of
Michel BARNIER
electronic signatures than those referred to in that same
Member of the Commission

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L 53/68
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
26.2.2011
ANNEX
Specifications for an XML, CMS or PDF advanced electronic signature to be technically supported by the
receiving Member State
Within the following part of the document the key words ‘MUST’, ‘MUST NOT’, ‘REQUIRED’, ‘SHALL’, ‘SHALL NOT’,
‘SHOULD’, ‘SHOULD NOT’, ‘RECOMMENDED’, ‘MAY’, and ‘OPTIONAL’ are to be interpreted as described in RFC
2119 ( 1 ).
SECTION 1 — XAdES-BES/EPES
The signature is conform with the W3C XML Signature specifications ( 2 )
The signature MUST at least be a XAdES-BES (or -EPES) signature form as specified in the ETSI TS 101 903 XAdES
specifications ( 3 ) and complies with all the following additional specifications:
The ds:CanonicalizationMethod that specifies the canonicalization algorithm applied to the SignedInfo element prior to
performing signature calculations identifies one of the following algorithms only:
Canonical XML 1.0 (omits comments):
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xml-c14n-20010315
Canonical XML 1.1 (omits comments):
http://www.w3.org/2006/12/xml-c14n11
Exclusive XML Canonicalization 1.0 (omits comments): http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#
Other algorithms or of ‘With comments’ versions of the above listed algorithms SHOULD NOT be used for the signature
creation but SHOULD be supported for residual interoperability for the signature verification.
MD5 (RFC 1321) MUST NOT be used as a digest algorithm. Signers are referred to applicable national laws, and for the
purposes of guidelines to ETSI TS 102 176 ( 4 ) and to the ECRYPT2 D.SPA.x report ( 5 ) for further recommendations on
algorithms and parameters eligible for electronic signatures.
The use of transforms is restricted to the ones listed below:
Canonicalization transforms: see related specifications above;
Base64 encoding (http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#base64);