Bill on a qualified electronic signature service (summary, explanatory memorandum, preliminary draft, impact analysis, Council of State opinion)

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus as at 31-10-2026.

Parliamentary document DOC 56 1562/001 of the Chamber of Representatives contains the bill on a qualified electronic signature service, tabled by the government on 21 May 2026, with its summary, the explanatory memorandum, the preliminary draft, the impact assessment and the opinion of the Council of State Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Sommaire Pages. The competent member of the government is the Minister of Security and Home Affairs Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Fiche signalétique. The summary begins as follows (the document is bilingual French-Dutch; it has no English version):

In other words, the bill aims to establish a federal remote qualified electronic signature service, in order to guarantee Belgian citizens continuous and secure access to qualified electronic signatures in accordance with the European eIDAS Regulation. The text adopted is the law of 16 July 2026, whose parliamentary proceedings refer to documents 56-1562 Travaux parlementaires; it is the law that must be cited for the law in force. The PDF is bilingual, in two columns, and its conversion intermingles French and Dutch in places Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026).

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus as at 31-10-2026.

The bill concerns citizens, who will be able to obtain temporary qualified signature certificates; the FPS Home Affairs and the FPS Policy and Support, which operate the service and whose data responsibilities it defines; and relying parties, which may keep the National Register number included in the certificates Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), RÉSUMÉ Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 4.

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus as at 31-10-2026.

According to the explanatory memorandum and the commentary on the articles:

• The reason. From 21 May 2026, signatures applied with certain older eID cards will no longer be automatically recognised as qualified throughout the Union Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL. The memorandum explains this by the certification period of qualified signature creation devices, limited to five years, compared with cards valid for ten years Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL. The regulation sets this limit provided that vulnerability assessments are carried out every two years Art. 30.

• Three eIDAS services: issuing qualified certificates, managing remote qualified signature creation devices, creating signatures. The service does not sign on the citizen’s behalf: it provides the certificate with which the citizen signs Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 2.

• The user account is created after high-level authentication, by means of the electronic identity card, the foreign national’s electronic card or the federal digital identity wallet, which the memorandum identifies with the MyGov.be app Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 3 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL. The commentary states:

  Ce portefeuille d’identité évoluera vers le portefeuille d’identité numérique développé et mis à disposition par le Service public fédéral Stratégie et Appui en exécution de l’article 4, 14°, de la loi du 15 août 2012

  That is, this identity wallet will evolve into the digital identity wallet developed and made available by the FPS Policy and Support pursuant to Article 4, 14°, of the law of 15 August 2012. It adds that this evolution into a wallet within the meaning of the eIDAS Regulation (“e.a.” in the French version, “m.a.w.”, that is, “in other words”, in the Dutch version) will take place as soon as the European framework is fully ready and has entered into force Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 3.

• A 24-hour certificate, a period chosen for security; a signature applied while the certificate is valid keeps its effects after the certificate expires Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 4.

• The National Register number remains in the certificate: the government examined a replacement identifier, after being questioned on this point by the Data Protection Authority, and rejected it Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 4.

• A maximum of thirty years’ retention of the account register data after deactivation, a period aligned with the maximum limitation period under Belgian law Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 3.

• The transitional provision Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 6 ensures that signatures made with the old cards retain their full legal value in the Belgian legal order; it takes effect from 21 May 2026 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 6.

The file gives three different reference points for the cards concerned. The general explanatory statement refers to cards issued before 7 June 2017 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL; the commentary on this provision, to the certificates falling under the BRCA3 root certificate, that is, cards issued between 21 May 2016 and 4 July 2016 (around 520,000 cards) Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 6; the text of this provision of the bill, to cards issued before 30 June 2017 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), § 1, as does the law adopted Art. 6(1).

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus as at 31-10-2026.

The opinions. The memorandum states that the Council of State delivered its opinion 78.736/4 on 21 January 2026 and the Data Protection Authority its opinion No 36/2026 on 4 March 2026 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), EXPOSÉ GÉNÉRAL. The Council of State asks that the definition of the federal wallet refer to Article 4, 14°, of the law of 15 August 2012, and that it be checked that the data in the certificate comply with Annex I to Regulation 910/2014 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 2 Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 4. According to the commentary, the list now includes all the data in that annex Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 4. The 2012 law entrusts the development of a European digital identity wallet to the federal service integrator (task 14) Art. 4.