eIDAS trust services: timestamps, registered delivery and archiving

Short answer: eIDAS covers more than signatures and seals. It also provides trust services for timestamps, electronic registered delivery, website authentication and — under eIDAS 2.0 — archiving. In their qualified form these services appear on the EU trust list and give you a stronger evidential position and clearer legal effects.

Which trust services exist

eIDAS (Regulation (EU) 910/2014) bundles a set of services that underpin the reliability of electronic processes:

• Qualified timestamp: binds a date and time to data. A qualified timestamp

enjoys the legal presumption that the indicated date and time are accurate and that the data have not been altered since (integrity).

• Electronic registered delivery: provides evidence of both the sending and

the receipt of data, with protection against loss, theft or alteration in transit. The qualified form gives a legal presumption of integrity and of the indicated sending and receiving times.

• Website authentication certificates: link a website to the legal entity

behind it, so visitors can verify its identity.

What eIDAS 2.0 adds

The revision (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, "eIDAS 2.0") introduces new trust services alongside the European digital identity (the EU Digital Identity Wallet):

• Qualified electronic archiving: a service that preserves digital data

reliably, so that durability and integrity are safeguarded over longer periods.

• Electronic ledgers: a service that records data in a chronological,

tamper-resistant register.

Why qualified makes a difference

Services come in a non-qualified and a qualified form. Only qualified providers appear, after supervision and a conformity assessment, on the national trust list within the EU trusted lists. eIDAS attaches stronger legal effects to the qualified form, such as the legal presumption mentioned above. Non-qualified services are usable, but you must demonstrate their reliability yourself.

What this means for transport and logistics

In chains where timing and proof matter, these services are directly useful:

• Proof of sending and receiving time for documents such as consignment

notes, customs declarations or order confirmations.

• Registered digital communication to replace paper registered mail between

shipper, carrier and consignee.

• Reliable preservation of contracts and transport documents, so they hold up

as evidence later.

Read more: the Transport & Logistics overview. Take the scan.