# What Is eIDAS? Definition and Examples

> eIDAS is the EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services, covering e-signatures, e-seals, timestamps and website authentication.

Source: https://ssl.sh/glossary/eidas/
Last updated: 2026-11-10

eIDAS is Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market. It does two things: it lets EU member states recognise each other's notified national electronic identification schemes, and it creates a legal framework for trust services, including electronic signatures, electronic seals, electronic timestamps, electronic registered delivery and website authentication. A trust service is "qualified" when provided by a supervised Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) listed on an EU Trusted List; most of these services are built on [PKI](https://ssl.sh/glossary/pki/). Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, often called eIDAS 2.0, amends the original regulation and introduces the European Digital Identity Wallet.

## Why it matters
Qualified services carry defined legal effects across the EU; for example, a qualified electronic signature, a particular kind of [digital signature](https://ssl.sh/glossary/digital-signature/) created on a certified device, has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature. For PKI practitioners, eIDAS explains certificate types met in European projects: qualified certificates for electronic signatures and seals, and [QWACs](https://ssl.sh/glossary/qwac/) for websites. These are X.509 certificates with extra statements and policies defined in ETSI standards.

## Example
```text
Qualified certificate for electronic signature    -> a natural person signs a contract
Qualified certificate for electronic seal (QSealC) -> a legal person seals an invoice
QWAC                                              -> identifies the operator of a website
```

## Common misconceptions
- **eIDAS is only about website certificates.** Website authentication is one trust service among several, alongside electronic identification.
- **eIDAS 2.0 replaced the 2014 regulation.** Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 amends Regulation 910/2014 rather than repealing it.
- **Any certificate from an EU CA is "qualified".** Only certificates issued as qualified by a QTSP holding qualified status for that service are.

## Related terms

- [QWAC](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/qwac/): QWAC 是欧盟 eIDAS 框架下由合格信任服务提供者签发、把网站与经核实的法人或自然人绑定的证书。
- [数字签名](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/digital-signature/): 数字签名是用私钥对消息计算出的一个值，任何持有对应公钥的人都能验证它，从而确认消息来源和内容未被篡改。
- [证书颁发机构](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/certificate-authority/): 证书颁发机构（CA）是负责审核申请者、签发数字证书，并把公钥与域名或身份绑定在一起的机构。
- [PKI](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/pki/): PKI 即公钥基础设施，指用于签发、分发、验证和吊销数字证书的一整套角色、策略、软件和操作流程。
- [信任库](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/trust-store/): 信任库是操作系统、浏览器或编程语言运行时内置的一组根 CA 证书，验证证书链时以它们作为信任锚。
- [S/MIME](https://ssl.sh/zh/glossary/smime/): S/MIME 是一种使用 X.509 证书和 CMS 格式对电子邮件进行端到端签名和加密的标准。