In Belgium: identity, wallet and qualified signature

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus on 29-10-2026.

The Act of 18 July 2017 on electronic identification entrusts FPS Policy and Support (FPS BOSA) with an authentication task (quoted in French, the language of the corpus version used):

Sans préjudice des obligations liées au Règlement (UE) 910/2014, le Service public fédéral Stratégie et Appui est chargé d’offrir des services d’identification électronique pour des applications publiques au sein du service d’authentification.

In substance: without prejudice to the obligations arising from Regulation (EU) 910/2014, FPS Policy and Support is responsible for offering electronic identification services for public applications within the authentication service.

Parties other than public sector bodies may also offer their electronic identification services for access to public applications. These services must be approved by FPS BOSA, after consulting representatives of three colleges: that of the chairs of the federal public services and programming public services, and those of the managing directors of the social security institutions and of the federal public interest bodies Art. 10(1). The King lays down the procedure, conditions and consequences of this approval Art. 10(2), which the Royal Decree of 22 October 2017 does Royal Decree of 22-10-2017 (numac 2017031391).

Belgium has notified two electronic identification schemes under the Regulation. The list published in the Official Journal on 12 August 2026 mentions the scheme “Belgian eID scheme FAS/ eCards” and the scheme “Belgian eID Scheme FAS / itsme®”, both at assurance level high OJ C/2026/4428 (CELEX 52026XC04428). According to FPS BOSA, the FAS (Federal Authentication Service) makes it possible to authenticate users for online access to secure public applications FPS BOSA — service page, Federal Authentication Service (FAS), and itsme® is an authentication application developed by Belgian banks and telecom operators FPS BOSA — news item of 05-02-2026, L'application MyGov.be comme clé numérique : tout ce que vous devez savoir !. Notified schemes are presented in step 1, assurance levels in step 3.

The Act of 15 August 2012 entrusts the “Federal Public Service in charge of Digitalisation” (« Service public fédéral en charge de la Digitalisation ») with the task of federal service integrator Art. 3. Its tasks include the development of the electronic login services of the authentication service (task 10) and the development of a European Digital Identity Wallet (task 14) Art. 4.

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus on 29-10-2026.

The wallet developed by FPS Policy and Support in implementation of the 2012 Act is called the “federal digital identity wallet” (« portefeuille fédéral d’identité numérique ») by the Act of 16 July 2026 Art. 2(1)(3). Step 3 presents these texts and the way FPS BOSA describes the MyGov.be application.

The Act of 16 July 2026 does not name MyGov.be Act of 16-07-2026 (numac 2026005829). The link appears in the explanatory memorandum of the bill, in connection with the qualified signature:

Cela sera également possible via l’application MyGov.be, le portefeuille fédéral d’identité numérique.

In substance: this will also be possible via the MyGov.be application, the federal digital identity wallet.

This identification therefore comes from the explanatory memorandum, not from the text of the Act Art. 2(1)(3). According to the commentary on Article 3, in the same explanatory memorandum, the federal wallet will evolve 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) as soon as the European framework setting the conditions for such a wallet is fully ready and has entered into force Chamber of Representatives, DOC 56 1562/001 (tabled on 21-05-2026), Art. 3. The finding of step 3 still holds: no source in the corpus, consulted on 29-10-2026, announces the certification of MyGov.be as a European wallet Art. 5d(3).

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus on 29-10-2026.

The service

The Act of 16 July 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur belge) on 5 August 2026, enters into force on the day of its publication Titre Art. 7. It defines the qualified electronic signature service in three elements, each referring to the Regulation:

service consistant en la délivrance de certificats qualifiés de signature électronique au sens de l’article 3, point 15, du règlement eIDAS, en la gestion des dispositifs de création de signature électronique qualifiés à distance au sens de l’article 3, point 23 bis, du règlement eIDAS et en un service pour la création à distance des signatures électroniques qualifiées au sens de l’article 3, point 12, du règlement eIDAS.

In substance: a service consisting of the issuance of qualified certificates for electronic signatures within the meaning of Article 3, point (15), of the eIDAS Regulation, the management of remote qualified electronic signature creation devices within the meaning of Article 3, point (23a), of the eIDAS Regulation and a service for the remote creation of qualified electronic signatures within the meaning of Article 3, point (12), of the eIDAS Regulation.

By “eIDAS Regulation”, the Act means Regulation 910/2014 as amended by Regulation 2024/1183 Art. 2(1)(1). FPS Home Affairs and FPS Policy and Support make this service available to citizens for the remote creation of qualified electronic signatures Art. 2(2) Art. 2(3). Within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation 2016/679) Art. 2(1)(2), they are joint controllers of the processing of the service’s data; FPS Home Affairs is also responsible for the content of the certificates and the identification of the user, FPS Policy and Support for the user accounts and their logs Art. 2(6).

The user account

To use the service, citizens must first authenticate and create a user account Art. 2(4). To create this account, they accept the terms of use Art. 3(1) and must authenticate:

via le service d’authentification par un certificat d’identité sur une carte d’identité ou une carte d’étranger

(in substance: via the authentication service with an identity certificate on an identity card or a foreigner’s card, with a reference to the Act of 19 July 1991 on the population registers) or with the federal digital identity wallet Art. 3(2). To create and use an account, citizens must be entered in the population registers, the register of foreign nationals or the consular registers without having been removed from them, must not have been declared absent, must not be subject to the judicial protection measure referred to in Article 492/1, § 1, 21°, of the former Civil Code, and must be of age or an emancipated minor Art. 3(3). FPS Policy and Support checks these conditions when the account is created and throughout its lifetime Art. 3(4). It keeps a register of accounts, whose data are kept for thirty years after deactivation Art. 3(5).

The account is deactivated on the initiative of either FPS if data in the certificate change or if a condition is no longer met; it may also be deactivated at the request of its holder Art. 5(1) Art. 5(2).

The 24-hour certificate

As long as their account is active, holders may request a qualified certificate for electronic signatures and use it to apply qualified electronic signatures Art. 4(1). For each request, the two FPSs first verify their identity, in accordance with the Regulation, and the validity of the account Art. 4(2) Art. 24(1a).

La durée maximale de validité d’un certificat qualifié de signature électronique délivré conformément à cette loi est de vingt-quatre heures à partir de l’heure de sa délivrance.

In substance: the maximum period of validity of a qualified certificate for electronic signatures issued under this Act is twenty-four hours from the time of its issuance.

The certificate contains the data of Annex I to the Regulation, supplemented by the holder’s National Register number Art. 4(4). A relying party that relies on this certificate may process this number, but only within a precise limit:

uniquement dans la mesure où ce traitement est nécessaire afin d’établir, de conserver et de vérifier la preuve de la signature électronique.

In substance: only insofar as this processing is necessary to establish, retain and verify the proof of the electronic signature.

This processing includes the retention and, where applicable, the communication of the signed document. Without prejudice to a statutory provision to the contrary, the number may not be processed for other purposes Art. 4(5). The notion of relying party is explained in step 2, and the steps for a relying party in step 7.

Old identity cards

The Act contains a transitional provision:

Dans la mesure où l’utilisation d’une signature électronique qualifiée est imposée par ou en vertu d’une loi, d’un décret ou d’une ordonnance, cette condition est aussi remplie par une signature électronique avancée visée à l’article 3, point 11, du règlement eIDAS, créée au moyen d’un certificat de signature valide sur une carte d’identité électronique valide, délivrée avant le 30 juin 2017

In substance: insofar as the use of a qualified electronic signature is required by or under an act, decree or ordinance, this condition is also met by an advanced electronic signature referred to in Article 3, point (11), of the eIDAS Regulation, created by means of a valid signature certificate on a valid electronic identity card issued before 30 June 2017.

This rule applies until the expiry date of the cards concerned Art. 6(2), and the article takes effect on 21 May 2026 Art. 7. The summary of the bill gives the reason:

à partir du 21 mai 2026, certaines anciennes cartes d’identité électroniques belges ne permettront plus automatiquement de produire des signatures qualifiées reconnues dans toute l’Union européenne.

In substance: from 21 May 2026, certain old Belgian electronic identity cards will no longer automatically make it possible to produce qualified signatures recognised throughout the European Union.

What FPS BOSA says

In a news item of 30 March 2026, predating the Act, FPS BOSA announces a remote signature service for all citizens during 2026. It states that, to sign, one identifies oneself and confirms the signature with the eID (the electronic identity card) or the MyGov.be application FPS BOSA — news item of 30-03-2026, La signature eID belge évolue vers une nouvelle solution. It also announces two deadlines: cards issued before 1 July 2016 no longer allow qualified signing “using the old method” from 22 May 2026; from 22 May 2027, the chip of certain cards will no longer meet the new certification requirements FPS BOSA — news item of 30-03-2026, La signature eID belge évolue vers une nouvelle solution. These dates and criteria are not those of Article 6 of the Act Art. 6(1) Art. 7. The news item refers to the “old method” of signing; Article 6 concerns compliance with a legal requirement for a qualified signature.

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus on 29-10-2026.

The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) is designated as the national cybersecurity authority Art. 3(1). The Act of 20 July 2022 requires the King to designate the national cybersecurity certification authority provided for by Regulation 2019/881 Art. 5(1); a Royal Decree of 16 October 2022 designates the CCB Art. 3.

The conformity of wallets with the relevant cybersecurity requirements is certified under the European cybersecurity certification schemes referred to in the implementing acts; for the other requirements, and for the cybersecurity requirements that these schemes do not cover or cover only partially, Member States establish national certification schemes Art. 5c(2) Art. 5c(3) (step 3). The CCB’s participation in eIDAS work, including the preparatory work on a national certification system for the wallet, is mentioned in step 3 CCB — NCCA page, eIDAS2. The acceptance of Belgium as a consuming member of the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA), and the preparation of Belgian certification bodies to offer the European EUCC scheme, as announced by the CCB, are presented in step 5.

In Belgium

Situation checked in the corpus on 29-10-2026.

No source in the corpus, consulted on 29-10-2026:

• indicates which body Belgium has designated to supervise wallet providers Art. 46a(1);
• presents the Belgian national register of wallet-relying parties provided for by Implementing Regulation 2025/848 Art. 3(1);
• contains a Belgian national certification scheme for wallets Art. 5c(3);
• shows any adaptation of Book XII of the Code of Economic Law to Regulation 2024/1183 Code of Economic Law, Book XII, Title 2 (Art. XII.24-XII.39) + Art. I.18, XV.25-26, XV.123.