From 1 July 2016, the legal framework for electronic signatures, electronic seals and electronic time stamps will be primarily defined by Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (the eIDAS Regulation for short). The Regulation and the implementing acts based on it serve to harmonise the internal market for signatures/seals/time stamps within the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). According to the Regulation, as of 1 July 2016, electronic seals, i.e. signatures, are available for legal persons, besides electronic signatures for natural persons and electronic time stamps. In this respect, the seal is an extension to the previous legal situation in Germany. The eIDAS Regulation will continue to allow for mobile qualified signatures/seals and qualified remote signatures/seals.

The BSI offers additional information on the eIDAS Regulation.

The previous legal framework for electronic signatures in Germany was defined by the Digital Signature Act [SigG] and the Signature Regulation [SigV]; from 1 July 2016 it will be primarily determined by the eIDAS Regulation. A more precise legal specification and clarification are being developed with the aid of the Trust Services Act, which is currently in the draft stage.

Further Details in Chapter 1 of the following document: Grundlagen der elektronischen Signatur